Mad World
by BorchMadsen
Summary: AU Zombie verse. The apocalypse is here and Miles has to make the long trip across the states of America, to meet with Frank in Los Angeles. Along the way he gets a new companion. Will they make it to L.A, or die trying?
1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:** Hi fellow LOST fans! Four years after having gotten this idea, I've finally written it! It turned into a six chapter story, excluding a prolouge and an epilouge. So, 8 chapters in all! Wow! This is my very first multi-chapter fanfiction. I have never written anything this long before. I'm not what I would consider a good fanfiction writer, but I have to say, after this story, I hope I've gotten a little better at it. I can't believe that it's only taken me 3 months to finish this. I've had one chapter finished for 3 years and now, I finished the whole damn thing in the year of 2016. I have a great feeling of accomplishment! No matter if the story is good, or bad, at least I have that feeling. So here it is. Finally! My LOST AU Zombie fanfiction with our very own Miles Straume in the lead and Kate Austen by his side. Our Frank Lapidus will also be there, along with a few other surprises! Any words you have for me, will be greatly appreciated! I welcome constructive critism and advice! I can most definitely use that in the future! I hope this has come out as a readable story and that you guys will enjoy it.

My very first multi-chapter fanfiction! :)

 **Mad World – Prolouge**

His feet pounded the pavement as he ran with all his might. His breathing hitched in his throat. The ground sent shock waves up through his feet and legs. They were gonna cramp soon. It stung and the muscles tensed with every step he ran.

His heart pounded in his chest. For a cop, he was out of shape. He couldn't breathe in air. He had to stop.

He stood in the middle of the street. Cars were parked and abandoned on both sides. The sun was annoyingly hot and burned his skin. He sat his bag down on the ground and leaned over - 9mm pistol in his right hand. He sucked in deep breaths as fast as he could. He coughed hard. No water. The bottle he had, he'd left in the car.

Home wasn't far away. 3 more blocks.

He looked behind him. They were coming.

Going to the station had been too risky. He should have never left the keys in the car.

A poor, desperate soul must have seen it from afar. All he knew was that his car was gone when he came back out. He shouldn't have risked it just to get guns and ammo.

They growled. 50 meters behind him, if not less. He exhaled hard.

Picking up the bag of guns, he slung it over his shoulder and started running. Inside his head he repeated the same panicked sentence, over and over.

" _Please be OK. Please be OK. Please be OK."_


	2. The Beginning of the End

**Chapter One – The Beginning of the End**

For the last 4 weeks, the instructions had been the same;

\- Don't go outside.

\- Barricade your house.

\- Turn off all lights and minimize all noise at nightfall to prevent attracting attention.

\- Stay away from anyone who might be, or are infected.

The speaker on the tv and all radio stations was on repeat. All day long, the woman's firm voice spoke the same words. The voice continued;

" _Some of the worlds best scientests are working on a cure, but this is something the world has never dealt with before. We ask you to be patient and follow these simple steps, that leads to better safety of you and your loved ones. Stay safe, good luck, and may God be with you."_

They never mentioned anything on what to do if you got infected. Everyone knew the answer already.

* * *

"Honey?" Miles panted as he stormed through the front door of the house, that he shared with his wife Jaime. It was located in the Washington Heights area on Manhattan. He slammed the front door hard behind him and locked it quickly. He dumped the bag full of guns on the floor.

"Someone stole my car!" He hissed through gritted teeth as he passed through the living room and into the kitchen. He pulled the steel coloured door to the fridge open, grabbed a bottle of water and twisted the plastic lid off. He threw the lid to the bottle on the granite counter top.

"Honey?" He asked again before bringing the bottle to his lips and drinking over half of it.

"Hmm," He expressed to himself as he sat the bottle down and walked back into the living room.

The TV was still on and there was a cup of untouched cold tea on the old wodden coffee table. The thick blanket he'd wrapped around Jaime this morning before he left, had been tossed aside on the Miles walked towards the downstairs toilet to look for his wife, his heart started picking up it's pace. The toilet door was wide open and there was no sign of Jaime.

"Babe?" He yelled once again as he walked towards the stairs at the end of the hall.

Jaime had come down with what - at first - seemed like a common flu. After a while and Jaime not getting any better, the symptoms had lead them to believe that it was becoming a bad case of phnumonia. The hospitals had become unfuctional shortly after the breakout of the infection. There wasn't any help to find anywhere. Doctors of any kind had saved their own lives and left town. Most of them had probably died trying. Miles had searched a few doctors offices on his own and made risky guesses on what sort of antibiotics helped with phnumonia.

At first Jaime had seemed to get better, but then she started getting worse. Now she was so sick she could barely walk. Miles struggled hard to hide his feelings. To keep the mask up so Jaime wouldn't know that he was scared. Of course Jaime already knew. She always did. By now Miles knew that the chances were, she'd die before they got to leave this place. He wasn't ready to bury his wife. If he even got to do it before he was killed by those things outside. Jaime called them zombies. Miles found it scary how well that word fit.

Miles' heart pounded in his chest as he approached the staircase. The quiet made the panic rise in him. He ran up the stairs, taking them two at the time, afraid of what he'd find once he got up there.

"Jaime!" He screamed out at the top of his lungs, losing control of his legs and tripping over himself.

He slammed his knee into the edge of the step. He hissed through gritted teeth, "Shit!"

He quickly stumbled back up and ran up the rest of the steps.

Miles stormed into the bedroom and found the bed empty and untouched. Just as he left it this morning. His stomach was tying into knots and his heart was pounding so loud that he could hear it in his ears. He could probably see it pounding against his skin if he looked down. The nausea caused by the whole situation was causing him to stop breathing all together. He slowly approached the closed bathroom door.

"Honey," He called out softly as he reached the door. "Are you ok?" He gave it a minute and waited patiently for an answer.

Still nothing. He knocked on the door softly and tried turning the knop. It was locked. Jaime had never been a fan of locking the bathroom door. Miles hadn't understood until she explained her fear to him. Her explanation was, that if she were to fall and hit her head or faint, no one could help her. It made sense. Though he'd never expected it to actually happen. Miles was ready to throw up and started turning the knop furiously, almost ripping it off.

"Jaime!" He yelled out harshly. It hurt his throat and he almost coughed. "Open the door!"

He started ramming his shoulder against it, but he had to stop when it didn't give an inch. The door was made of old thick wood, at least 2 inches thick.

"Shit" He hissed again.

He stepped back from the door, getting ready to kick it in and took a deep breath. He'd been holding it for several minutes. He held the fresh breath for a few seconds. Then he let it out slowly.

The mental images in his head was getting worse by the second. It almsost made him dizzy. His stomach was cramping and his legs were shaking. He took another deep breath, stepped back and raised his leg.

As he let out the breath, he slammed his foot into the old door so hard he nearly lost his balance. He heard the door give. He stepped back, getting ready to kick it again. The second time, he slammed his foot into the door with all his strength, near the old lock. The door flew up and slammed into the wall behind with a loud creaking sound.

Miles ran through the door as he saw Jaime lying on the floor on her back. A classic orange pill bottle beside her. The pills had fallen all over the floor. Miles fell to the floor next to her, slamming his knees into the tiles and put a hand on her neck. He felt for a pulse. He let out a loud hard breath of relief when he felt the regular calm beat of her pulse under his finger.

"Honey," He whispered softly as he touched her chin.

"Wake up, honey." He shook her lightly a few times and clapped her cheeks. When she slowly started opening her eyes and regaining consiousness, Miles let out another sigh of relief.

* * *

As Jaime slowly regained her consiouness, she felt confused. She struggled to open her eyes and find the voice that was speaking to her. A voice she knew very well. She felt herself being pulled up from the darkness she had been in for, who knows how long, and found her way back to the light.

She opened her eyes slowly and searched for the face that fitted the voice. She blinked. Once. Twice. There, right before her eyes, was his face, filled with worry and fright. She watched how it turned into relief when she looked at him. She looked around the bathroom slowly, confused and dizzy. Her eyes felt like they wanted to shut again. They stung. Water filled them slowly and painfully. She squinted at the pain.

When Jaime moved to sit up, Miles held her arms and helped her. Her messy dark brown hair hung over her eyes as she leaned up against the bathtub. She kept blinking so she could focus. She rubbed her eyes hard to make the stinging pain go away.

"Take it easy," Miles said to her as he let go of her arms.

"What happened?" She whispered with a low raw voice. She cleared it, coughing hard in the process. Miles rubbed his hand on her back and waited for it to pass.

"I don't know," He said, shaking his head. "You tell me. Why are you up here?"

She shook her head for a moment, trying to remember what happened and how she even got upstairs. Miles gave her the time she needed to think and waited patiently. She looked up at him.

"You left the antibiotics up here. I went to get them and I felt fine right until…" She paused and brought her hand up to her lips, touching them lightly before pointing at the door and continuing, "I thought I heard something," She whispered and ran her hand through her messy hair to clear it from her face.

Jaime dried away a few tears that had run down her cheeks. She wasn't actually sure if it was because she was upset or if it was because they stung so much.

"I was so sure I heard something, or someone downstairs. I knew it wasn't you cause…" She stopped again and took a breath. It went in shaky over her dry lips.

"I got scared, so I closed the door and locked it. Just in case… I guess there was no one down there then?" She questioned a bit embarassed.

"No," Miles said softly, brushing her cheek with his thumb. "The front door was locked when I got here. There was never anybody downstairs."

"Oh," She said quietly, feeling stupid for having been scared over nothing. She had never been tough like Miles was.

"I'm sorry you got scared," Miles whispered softly and she looked down to the floor, "I shouldn't have left you alone. I wont do it again. I promise."

"No it's fine. I didn't know I was gonna faint. It's not your fault. It was probably just low blood sugar."

She looked at him and knew that he felt guilty for having left her alone. He'd spent a great deal of time during their 12 year long relationship, feeling guilty. She knew that.

"It's not your fault," She repeated, looking into his almost black eyes. They were darker than usual. There was less life in them. Miles didn't answer her back, but turned away and started picking up the antibiotics that were spread out on the tile floor. They would need them, even though it probably wasn't very hygenic to pick them up off the floor.

Jaime leaned back against the tub, drug up her legs and rested her chin on her knees. She took deep breaths and tried to shake the foggy and heavy feeling she had in her head. She looked at Miles. Noticed how his hands were shaking with each pill he picked up. She noticed the deep shaky breaths he took and how his shirt was half soaked with sweat. She could almost hear his heart pounding from where she sat. She heard him swallow hard and knew that he was choking back the panics vomit. Now she was the one who felt guilty. If she had only stayed on the couch where he'd put her this morning, all this wouldn't have happened. She swallowed once herself, feeling how raw her throat was.

"Are you ok, Miles?" Jaime whispered after a few minutes of silence. Her voice was insecure.

She was scared that she might say something wrong. She almost never called him Miles. He didn't answer her and she cleared her throat roughly, causing a voilent cough. She held up her hand to cover her mouth as a splash of clear red blood came up. She wiped her hand off in her pj pants. She wasn't gonna tell him.

* * *

Miles was still absent, shut off from the world, trying to get a hold of himself. He was choking back the vomit from the panic he'd just felt mere minutes before. It still lingered. His shirt stuck to his skin like he'd just taken a shower with it on. He never knew he could even produce that much sweat. He took long, deep breaths to keep himself under control. Tears were pressing his eyes, threatning to burst out if he didn't control it. It stung like crazy.

He couldn't remember ever having been this scared before. Not even when his mother passed of cancer a few years prior. Maybe the difference was that he knew his mother would get a peaceful death with no pain and people around her. It had made him less scared. He was prepared for his mother's death when it eventually happened, but he could never be prepared for his wife's. But by now it was almost inevitable.

"Miles!" Jaime suddenly burst through his barrier.

"Will you answer me, please?" She said more softly, trying to hide her desperation to hear his voice.

Miles snapped out of his thoughts at the harsh tone and looked up at her with a mix between sad and dead eyes. They were shining with the tears that threatned to run if he blinked.

"I'm fine," He whispered, clearing his throat, "I just got scared, that's all." He turned back around and continued picking up the pills, "We can still use these."

Jaime didn't care about that information. She wanted him to talk to her.

"Miles," Jaime slowly started, "Maybe you should sit down for a minute. Drink some water."

"No, it's fine. I just had some." He answered half hearted, "We just need to worry about you."

"Yeah, but I'm fine, Miles," She ran her hand through her hair again. The lie had become too easy to say. "Just take a minute and sit down. Relax. Breathe."

Miles ignored her suggestions until she reached out and touched his back with her feather light touch. He turned around on his knees and looked down at the floor.

"Alright," He finally breathed out and slowly sat down against the tub next to her. He let the little white pills fall into the orange bottle and put the lid back on. He took some deep breahts and put his hand on her knee. She closed her eyes and let her chin rest lightly on top of his hand. She looked straight forward into nothing.

"How are you feeling?" He asked after a couple of minutes.

She turned her head to look at him and let her cheek rest on his hand instead, feeling the warmth of his skin. She took a deep hoarse breath, that made her lungs protest and she was becoming very aware that her lungs were not getting any better.

"I'm OK. Just a bit dizzy. Embarrassed." She paused, "Hungry too."

"Well. We better do something about that then."

Miles got up slowly and she saw his knees shake a bit as he balanced himself. "Dammit," He hissed as he put weight on his knee.

"What's wrong?" Jaime asked and reached up for his hands, so he could help her up. As he pulled her up from the floor, helping her gain ballance, she grabbed her head lightly. She stood still for a bit looking at him. "So, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," He said, not revealing anything.

"Oh, come on," She pressed.

"I fell on the stairs and hurt my knee," He sheepishly admitted.

"Oh," She smiled, on the break of laughing.

"Are you laughing!?" Miles said in his famous I-can't-believe-it tone. Jaime giggled and turned her head away from him, covering her mouth to hide the huge grin.

"Come on," He said, grabbing her shoulders and turning her towards the door, "I'm glad my pain amuses you."

Jaime let out a huge laugh, to which her lungs protested. She put on a not very serious face, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Ha ha," Miles said with major sarcasm and rolled his eyes at her.

Together they walked through the bathroom door and into the bedroom. Once again Jaime turned serious.

"Are you sure there's nobody downstairs?"

Miles didn't dare make fun of her. "Yeah, I'm sure," He smiled, kissing her hair lightly.

* * *

That same evening they were curled up on the old couch, with the same endless news on the TV. Neither of them were really watching it. Miles' brain was working over time to try and find a solution. He was beginning to realize, that she wasn't going to survive the trip to L.A. Now it was just a matter of time, before he had to put a bullet in her head and bury her.

Would he want to live afterwards? Would he call Frank – His old mate. Experienced pilot and sailor from L.A - and tell him that he wasn't gonna make it? Tell Frank that he should just sail away. Would he try to make the trip to L.A alone? Would he even make it there alive at all?

No. He was pretty sure he wouldn't want to live afterwards.

"I can hear you think." Jaime whispered, raising her head from his chest.

* * *

He gave a small laugh and looked down at her. Her beautiful blue eyes were looking up at him. A small sad smile on her lips. She knew what he was thinking. She knew he was thinking about what was to come. Her death. Her burial. Him loosing her. His life after her death.

She could feel it coming. She couldn't explain it, but she could feel it inside her body. It wouldn't be long now. Two days. Maybe one. Maybe less. It was the most surreal feeling she'd ever had. But she was ready. She'd made her peace with it. The world was ending anyway. She would rather die in her home, able to say goodbye to Miles. See his face one last time before eternal darkness. Feeling warm and comfortable. That death was better than the alternative, outside the walls of their house.

She wanted to tell him to go to L.A, but she knew him too well. She knew he wouldn't listen. He'd made up his mind already. He hadn't spoken a word about it, but she knew. She knew exactly what he was thinking and she wasn't about to let that happen.

She wanted him safe and L.A was the chance of that happening. She wanted him to get on that boat and sail away with Frank. She wanted him to choose to survive. To _want_ to survive. The last thing she wanted, was Miles dead. Even if she was.

The tears filled her eyes as she thought more about it. The imagies in her head were too much. Miles having to bury her. Miles grieving over her. Miles choosing to end his own life. Miles with a gun to his head. Miles dead on the floor. She was afraid her death would ruin him. Miles was a very sensitive person. He tried to hide it, but she always knew how he felt. To her, his feelings was like an open book.

She couldn't imagine anything worse herself, than to loose the person she loved most in the world.

Him.

It was bad enough having to bury that person. But in this world she knew only a bullet in her head would end her life definitively. Her heart broke at the thought. She didn't feel sorry for herself. She was gonna be dead. She wouldn't be missing him. She wouldn't have to experience the burial. She wouldn't have to mourn. But Miles would have to experience it all and the thought made her eyes run over with tears, that dripped down on his shirt.

* * *

They still held eye contact. Mere seconds had passed while Miles had seen the thoughts fly around in her eyes. For a moment Miles was confused over the sudden rush of tears.

"You have to promise me something," Jaime choked out.

"What's that?" He murmured and dried away a few of her tears.

"You have to go to L.A," She whispered, catching the moment of confusion and then panic in his eyes. "when I die…" She ended.

He'd thought she meant that he had to go right now and leave her alone here to die. His mind didn't ease. He just felt a whole different kind of panic. He'd refused to accept that she was going to die for the past while and he still refused to accept it now. Knowing she was gonna die and accepting it were two very different things to him.

"I'm not so sure, I'm gonna do that." He bluntly admitted.

"No," She said matter of factly. "You're gonna go to L.A," She sat up and continued, "I know what you're thinking."

He looked away from her.

"You're thinking about killing yourself. Aren't you?"

Miles avoided her question, but she had it right. He was thinking about taking his own life after he'd buried her. He sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees, resting his chin on his hands.

"Answer me!" Jaime snapped.

The short distance between them made her voice sound much louder and harsh. Miles flinched at the tone. He looked her in the eye. The anger flaring in them was clear enough message to him. But what could she do? She couldn't stop him when she was dead. He couldn't see what the problem was. He wanted to be with her. Even in death. He promised her that the day he married her.

"Yes," Miles sighed and leaned back on the couch. He ran his hand through his already messy hair.

"What's so wrong about that though?" He mumbled.

"You _don't_ see what's wrong with that?" She questioned, glaring at him.

"No, I don't," He said flatly. "I don't see what's wrong in wanting to be with you after you die, instead of being alone, in a world full of dead people walking around." He looked down and started picking invisible things off his pants.

Jaime shook her head. "You'll have Frank," She pointed out.

"Yes. But Frank isn't you. He isn't the person I love the most in the world. Is he?" Miles spat back.

"I know that!" She cried, her voice high-pitched.

* * *

Tears were pressing her eyes again in pure frustration. She did not want to spend whatever time she had left with Miles arguing with him. But she wanted him to promise. To promise to stay alive. She knew she would be dead and she'd never know what he did. But right now she was still alive and she couldn't bear the thought of Miles putting a bullet through his own head because of her.

Jaime wheezed as she took deep breaths through her nose trying not to cough. Miles was looking at her from the other end of the couch. His elbow rested on the armrest and his chin layed on his hand. He watched how she fought to stop the violent coughs before they began. He knew she'd been hiding the fact that she was coughing blood. He'd seen the stains on her pj pants and the ocasional dried blood on her hands. He knew she hadn't told him because he would worry even more. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and sighed deeply.

Her fighting was pointless and the first violent cough ripped it's way through her. Another one, and then another one, as she struggled to breathe air in between. Miles' eyes shot open and he jumped up from the couch and rushed to the kitchen. He yanked the fridge door open, grabbed a bottle of water and a kitchen towel, then rushed back into the living room. Jaime had gotten control over the coughs, that now came in small jerks in her upper body. She sat with her hands stretched infront of her, her palms turned upwards and as Miles got closer, he saw the blood.

The blood in her palms dripped down on the new carpet underneath her, but she didn't care. Her eyes were dead and staring straight ahead into nothing. She heard Miles approach her, but didn't move her head. She had chosen to accept her fate. Chosen to be ready and prepared for death, but that didn't mean she wasn't scared too. She kept breathing deeply, trying to avoid the burning pain in her lungs. _'Please, let death come soon,'_ She thought to herself.

Each time she coughed, more and more blood came up. It had started hurting a lot more than she let on. It felt like glass shards were ripping her lungs and throat apart, even when she took a normal breath. More tears ran. Would she eventually run out of them?

* * *

Miles placed the water bottle on the coffee table and crouched down infront of Jaime. Gently, he started wiping her hands off with the kitchen towel. He noticed the silent tears that were running down her face. It pained him.

"Tomorrow I'm gonna find a car and then we're gonna leave for L.A," His voice was empty and dead, as was his facial expression.

"Miles - " Jaime started, but he cut her off.

"No," He firmly stated. "We're gonna be alright. I'll get us there."

He put the kitchen towel on the coffee table and moved up to sit on it. She waited calmly for him to sit down infront of her. Miles leaned forward so their faces were merely inches away from one another.

"Miles, my love," She whispered slowly. She reached her hand up to touch his face. A feather light touch across his cheek. Miles closed his eyes for a moment.

"I don't want to die on the road. Do you understand that?" She asked.

"You're not gonna die," Miles denied and shook his head.

"Miles," She kept pushing. She sighed. "I'm tired. Okay?"

Miles looked down to the floor. She took his warm hands in her cold ones. Stroking her thumb over his skin, she made her final statement.

"I'm going to die and I've accepted that. I'm scared, but I'm OK with it. I know it's hard for you, but it's how it is. You've done everything you possibly could to make this go away. You've taken such good care of me," Her voice was barely above a whisper. "But now you need to let go. I don't want to die on the road to L.A. I want to die here, in our home. I want to be comfortable and feel safe. This is the better death anyone could hope for in this world. Not many get to say goodbye to the people they love. Not with the way things are now."

Her eyes filled with tears for the 10th time that day. She needed him to let it go now. To accept what was and to be there for her in her last hours.

"Do you understand that, Miles? " She asked once again.

Miles kept his head down. She felt the hot tears fall on her hands and she knew that Miles was fighting an internal battle right now. She waited patiently for him to come back to her.

Miles couldn't help it. He broke into pieces inside at her words. Before tonight, they had never spoken of death. That's why it had been so easy to deny. Now she was telling him there was nothing left to do. That he should let it go, let her go, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. The tears burned his eyes as they forced their way forward and spilled out. They dripped down on her hands and for a second, he mentally kicked himself for not controlling his emotions more. His tears wouldn't help her. He took a deep shaky breath and finally lifted his head. He was met with a calm facial expression. Her tears weren't flowing as much as before. She had the most admirable control over herself and the situation.

Miles merely nodded. He didn't really know what to say. He could tell her he was there for her until the end. But she already knew that. He could tell her, he would never be OK with her acceptance of death, but she knew that as well. He could tell her he wasn't ready to give up the fight, but that would make no difference. So he opted for the simplest sentence he could say. One thing she knew very well already.

"I love you."

She smiled at him. There was a sadness behind it. Her eyes glinced with the previous tears. It was enough for her. I love you, said everything she needed to hear. That he wasn't OK with letting go and giving up, but that he would still be there until she took her very last breath. She felt at ease. Relief flowed in over her at his words. She'd never doubted his love, but hearing it being said one last time, brought her the last bit of peace that she would need.

"I love you," She whispered back, still smiling at him. "Thank you for all you've given me. All the love, all the years, all the memories. Thank you for our utterly normal life, that I would have never exchanged for anything else," Her voice was calm. There were no tears this time. Maybe she'd finally run out?

Miles sniffled as he once again looked down at their hands. Their wedding rings. He made a morbid decision at that moment. He'd keep that ring with him forever. He looked up abruptly - right into her baby blues.

"Thank you for loving me," He whispered.

"Always." She ended the conversation.

Miles leaned in the last few inches and found her lips. He placed a soft kiss on them. Jaime untangled their hands and put her hands behind his neck to keep him there a little longer. Savoring what would most likely be their last kiss, she pulled him closer. Miles' hands found her waist and he held on to her. Jaime broke the kiss, only to place a new one on his lips. And another. And another. Accepting that this would be their last intimate action, she wanted to make the most of it.

* * *

It must have been around 1AM when Miles woke up. Slowly, he untangled their hands and slid off the couch. Jaime was sleeping deeply, her breathing for once calm and even.

He made his way to the downstairs toilet. As he washed his hands, he caught himself in the mirror. He was a sight for sore eyes. Bags were forming under his dark eyes. You could see the exhaustion in his whole face. He shook his head a few times and splashed some water on it.

When he returned to the living room, he found Jaime spread out comfortably, taking up the whole couch. Miles briefly smiled to himself and turned to sit in the lounge chair beside the fireplace. As much as he fought to stay awake, his eyes forced him to give up. He drifted off into a disturbed sleep, full of morbid nightmares.

Meanwhile, Jaime took her last breath.

* * *

There was a sound. Miles couldn't figure out where it came from. It was like a wheezing. Or maybe more like a low growl. There was nothing in his dream that could growl. He was stading on a medow full of flowers. The nightmares he'd had, had died down and changed into that scene. Clear blue skies and wild flowers at the peak of their day. The sun was shining bright in his eyes. A stream could be heard not far away.

There was nothing there, that could growl. No creatures, no dogs, no wild animals or anything. He could only see birds in the trees. They chirped happily.

He got pulled away from the dream. The medow, the blue skies and the flowers disappeared and was replaced with darkness. The wheezing and growling sound continued. Miles realised he was about to wake up.

He opened his eyes and tried to focus. His head had fallen back and he was staring at the ceeling. His breathing was calm. He blinked several times to try and focus again.

His breathing stopped instantly. The low growling sound was still there. He raised his head abruptly and was met with a sight he'd hoped he'd never get to see.

Jaime had raised up off the couch and was walking around the coffee table. Only, it wasn't really Jaime. She was one of those _things_. She'd changed. Her eyes were tained on him. Like he was the deer in the hunter's riffle sight. She came towards him, her balance a bit off. The growling sound came from her.

Miles' heart stopped. It stopped beating for several seconds as he was frozen in place in the chair, staring horrified at his wife's corpse coming towards him. She was coming to kill him. To rip him apart and eat him.

Realising what was gonna happen, he jumped off the chair and over the armrest, just as Jaime charged at him. He stumbled away from the chair and a horrified cry escaped his lips. Jaime fell forwards into the chair. It gave Miles enough time to realise what he had to do. He was gonna have to do, what he'd known for days, he was gonna have to. Put a bullet in her brain. He panicked. He flew towards the gun he'd left on the coffee table, rigth as Jaime turned from the chair and came towards him again.

Miles ripped the gun from the table and with a quivering bottom lip, a broken heart and tears in his eyes, he raised it. It was already cocked and ready to shoot. He aimed. His finger slowly pulled back on the trigger as he looked at his wife.

His dead wife.

The gun went off and Jaime fell to the floor, less than 10 feet away from him.

Miles fell to his knees, wailing. Devasted outcries of grief left his mouth, as he broke apart into a million pieces. The blood slowly ran out from the direct head shot he'd placed in Jaime. He started gagging, combined with not being able to breathe. He tried hard to take in air but it just hitched in his throat, killed by his sobs. He fell forward, further onto the floor. His forehead connected with the carpet and he ran his hands furiously over the back of his head. He still clutched the gun in his right hand.

He sobbed, his sounds muffled by the carpet. His pain and grief took him over completely and he threw away every thought about safety. He'd already fired the shot. It would have been audiable several houses down. If the creatures came, they came. He screamed into the carpet. Loud. Furiously. He pounded his fists on the floor.

He drew in fast breaths through his nose. Then he sat back up on his knees so fast, his head felt dizzy. "Oh god," He choked out when he saw her body. "Oh god," He found himself repeating.

His eyes were burning. He couldn't see clearly through the tears. Sniffling, he abruptly raised to gun to his own temple. Inhale. Exhale. He kept his eyes on her face. Finger on the trigger. He inhaled again. _Just pull the trigger,_ the voice in his head told him.

He lost his nerve. Exhaling hard, he removed the gun from his head. "Dammit," He cursed.

He crawled along the floor, up to her body. Almost laying down beside her, he touched her face. He got blood on his arm. He chose to ignore it. He slowly caressed her cheek. The tears felt hot on his skin and it felt tight were the old ones were now dried.

"Oh god," He dragged out the words and sniffled again. "I'm sorry," He whispered softly, "I'm so, so sorry."

He kissed her cheek lightly. It was clear of blood. Her skin was already pale. She already looked like those things outside. He placed another small kiss on her cold lips. His tears dripped down on her face.

Miles collapsed, right beside his dead wife. His once so lively, positive and happy wife. The woman who enjoyed laundry as much as a day out, laid dead beside him. Turned into a creature. A zombie. 12 years of his life, gone. In one bullet, the life they'd shared was gone forever.

He laid on his back next to her, feeling the wet, warm liquid that soaked through his shirt. Blood, he thought. He couldn't have cared less as he laid there. He closed his eyes hard, but knew it wasn't a bad dream he'd wake up from in a minute. It was real. She was gone.

She was gone.

The thought turned his stomach. He wanted to vomit. The grief that washed over him was unbarable. He kept his eyes shut tight as he continued sobbing.

* * *

When Miles finally opened his eyes again, he wasn't sure if he'd been awake the whole time, or if he'd fallen asleep. He stared at the ceeling for a few minutes. When he started to sit up, he felt his shirt stick to the floor. His back was sticky and wet. He raised up off the floor. His legs shook as he balanced himself. Reluclant to leave Jaime's body, he still turned around and headed for the stairs.

In the upstairs bedroom, Miles fell to the floor next to the bed. He reached in and dragged out a big sports bag. Setting it on the bed, he went to the closet. Underwear, socks, pants, shirts and extra shoes, all went quickly into the bag. Placed thoughtfully to make the most of the space. In the bathroom, Miles found a toiletry bag and placed his toothbrush, toothpaste, razor and a deoderant inside. Seemingly unnessicary things, but right now, the most normal he had. He went back to the bed and placed it in the sports bag.

He laid out a clean set of clothes on the bed and headed for the shower. He probably wouldn't get to take one for a while. He slowly peeled off the blood stained shirt and turned to look at his back in the mirror. It was covered in dark red, almost dried blood. He exhaled loudly again. Held back the tears. He removed the rest of his clothes and left it in a pile on the toilet lid.

He turned on the shower and stepped in. Cold or hot, it didn't matter to him. Taking his time, he used shampoo and body soap and made sure that the blood was cleaned off as best as possible.

Dressed in clean clothes, Miles continued packing his bag. He was gonna do as she said. Head for L.A and hopefully leave with Frank to find a safe place. He walked to the dresser. A wide selection of photo's from the last 12 years was all around him. On the dresser, on the nightstand, on the walls. There was no way all of them would ever fit in his bag, but he didn't want to leave them behind. That was too much for him just to think of.

He picked the frames up one by one and smashed them. He didn't have the time to be considerate of the frames. Frame after frame was smashed against a hard surface. All the pictures was collected in a stack, with a hairband around to keep them together. He placed them in the bag between some of his clothes.

Miles closed up the bag and headed back to the big closet on the opposite wall of the dresser. He opened it up and took a glance around. Picking up a rucksack from the bottom, he closed the closet door again and headed for the door. Before he closed it, he took one last glance around.

 _Too many memories._

He closed the door quietly and felt like he was ending a chapter of his life with each thing he took and each door he was now gonna close. Running down the stairs, he steered right into the living room. The bookshelf on the left side of the fireplace had all their photo albums standing on it. One by one, he placed all of them in the bag. He could barely close the zipper now.

Miles caught himself almost laughing at the thought that he was willing to leave everything else behind. Jewlery, gifts, souvineers from vacations. The last picture he was gonna bring was the one above the fireplace. Their wedding photo. Pressing it down into the sports bag, he refused to take it out of the frame. He finally got it down and closed the strained zipper back up. He went and placed his bag next to the gun bag by the front door.

Walking past Jaime's body, into the kitchen, he remembered what he'd thought of the evening before. He turned around and crouched down beside her. Sliding her diamond ring off her hand, he sighed. He caressed her cheek once again before standing up. Opening the lock to his necklace, he slid the ring on and closed it again. It would be safest there for now. He turned and headed back to the kitchen.

With the rucksack in hand, Miles took every water bottle they had in the fridge. He emptied the cuboards of everything that would last for a few days without the cold from the fridge. They had stolen lots of canned food from the closest supermarkets. He threw a can opener and some eating utensils in the bag as well. He closed the rucksack up and walked back to place it with the others.

He took a deep breath and held it for as long as he could. Now came the part he'd dreaded the most. The one thing he thought he was never going to do. He was gonna have to bury Jaime's body.

* * *

The sun was coming up as Miles grabbed the shovel in the backyard. He found a place at the back, close to the roses and started digging. With every shovel full of earth he dug up, tears ran down his face once again. He felt like screaming. Like blowing his head off. He wished for a minute that he could just be numb. That he was one of those people who would just go numb in a situation like this. But no, Miles wasn't numb. He felt every single thing. Every shovel of dirt, every tear and every beat his broken heart missed.

He stopped counting after shovel full 150.

Miles carefully bent down and picked Jaime of off the floor. She was heavier than usual. It was probably the whole 'dead weight' thing, Miles thought to himself.

Back in the yard, he carefully stepped into the grave he'd dug. The sun shined right down on them. He gently placed her body on the ground. Bending down he placed one last kiss on her cold cheek and ran his hand over her hair, clearing it from her face.

He knew he shouldn't do it. It would only bring him more pain if he did. But he couldn't help it. He had to know what the last thoughts in her head were before she died. He'd never read the mind of a person who'd been asleep when they died. He honestly had no idea if he would just hear what she had dreamt off.

He leaned over her body and closed his eyes. Concentrating hard, he felt the familiar feeling he always got when he did this. The tingeling.

It flashed through his head quickly and then it was gone.

A memory.

He sat back up. Surprised. Wondering. Jaime must have been thinking of that paticular memory right before she fell asleep in his arms the evening before.

The memory he saw, he remembered very well himself. It was serveral years ago. They had taken a vacation to Hawaii. They were standing on Kailua beach when Jaime had pulled out her camera and told him to look into it and say 'Aloha!'

That picture she'd taken of the two of them on the beach, now laid in the sports bag with the rest of the photo's from that trip.

He looked down at her and smiled, "I like that memory too," He whispered to her.

Miles got to his feet and climbed out of the grave. Grabbing the shovel, he took one last look at her. He wasn't ready for this. For what felt like the 100th time, his eyes filled with tears. He took the first shovel full of earth and threw it gently down onto her body. It tore at his insides. He felt something close to a panic attack sneaking up on him, but he kept going. In the burning sun, he covered the grave.

After he'd placed some roses, and any other kind of flower he could find, on her grave, he turned and walked back into the house. He slid the glass door closed and locked it. Walking through the living room, he avoided the pool of blood on the hardwood floor. As he entered the hallway, he turned and took one last look in the living room. This was no longer his home. It wouldn't ever be again.

Miles turned around and picked up the three bags. He opened the front door and stepped outside. The street was quiet. He closed the door behind him and fished out his keys. Out of pure habbit he locked it. He walked down the few steps to the pavement and turned to look at the house one last time.

Then he walked away without a second glance back.


	3. The Escape

**Chapter Two – The Escape**

Miles had been trapped in the local grocery store in the Washington Heights area for so long that it seemed like forever. He had been packing food and water bottles in to two backpacks he'd found. He was being very careful not to make any loud noises and alert _them._ The creatures. He'd put the backpacks, along with his own bags, by the store's front door so they would be easy to grab when the chance of escape finally came. And it would. He knew it would. People had been coming by here and there, but no one had stopped to look for food. They were in too much of a hurry to get away from the chaos of the city. His hope of someone stopping and saving him was fading every hour. If only his car hadn't been stolen, he would have been long gone by now.

Sleeping was a nightmare. He spent the nights awake, his heart stopping at the smallest noise. Some of _them_ came by. Sometimes just one… other times a flock. They were dragging their feet, making growling noises that were bone chilling. Miles never thought stuff like this could happen in real life. He'd always laughed at the movies. He didn't laugh anymore. Most of those things just walked by, taking no notice of the store. Others stopped and looked through the windows to see if there was anyone they could attack. Rip apart. Miles had never seen it himself, but he could imagine. It didn't seem like something he wanted to see either. But in the current situation, he probably couldn't avoid it forever.

As Miles was slowly walking out of the bathroom, he shot a glance out the window. There was a person just outside the store. He was a middle aged, grey haired man, in a grey suit. He was overweight and looked like he was in a hurry. Looking like he was scared. Why wouldn't he be?

The man was alone and heading for the store. The car, a big black Audi, was parked just across the street. Miles' plan was set. He was going to beg that man to take him along, on his knees if he had to. This was the first person in almost a week to stop. It was now or never. He had to convince that man to take him along. He stood still in the middle of the store, so he would be seen right away. He waited for the door to swing open. His heart was racing so fast he could hear it in his ears. He took a deep nervous breath.

But in the matter of seconds, his hope for escape and someone to talk to was gone. Just as the man reached for the door, he was ripped violently away and out onto the road. Miles heard the man screaming as the creature bit him in the neck and started clawing at him. Miles' eyes went wide and he flew back into the wall when the man's arm suddenly hit the store window with a loud thud. It fell to the ground. Blood and a few small pieces of flesh stuck to the window. The man was still screaming and it shot through Miles like needles, as more of those things arrived to eat him alive. Miles wanted to cover his ears like a child, but his body was frozen in fear. He couldn't move an inch, and he couldn't look away from what happened outside. It was like when you see a car wreck.

The creatures had ripped the man's chest open and blood ran all over the road as they pulled out his organs and started eating them. Blood was smearing all over their dead faces.

Miles' brain and lungs desperately needed air, but he held his breath because he knew, that if he tried to breathe, he would start screaming. A few seconds later, he slowly tried taking a breath through his nose to make sure he wouldn't scream. His eyes were still locked on the man. The horror of it was unexplainable. Nothing like those zombie movies he had seen on TV, nothing like it at all. This was far too real.

The man wasn't screaming anymore, but the creatures were still there, eating him and fighting over his remains. One of the creatures crawled up to the man's head, grabbed it and voilently tore it off. Blood splattered out over the creature and onto the street. Holding the man's head by his hair, the creature lifted it up and started looking at it curiously. It was like it was examining it, wondering why it looked almost like the creautre itself. It licked his face once and then poked a finger in to the man's eye, making it pop out and fall onto the road. The creature looked down at it, would have probably laughed if it could, then picked it up and ate it. Miles gagged hard as he tried to crawl further backwards into the wall.

"Shit!" He whispered, the fear glowing out of him like the sun shines bright. He fell to the floor with a bump and froze at the sound. Theydidn't hear it. They were too busy with their meal.

The creatures tore the man further up and ate the last of his remains. Leaving behind the rest of his corpse, they took off down the street, with his head hanging from the hair in their hands. Blood was dripping on the ground as they went.

When they were finally gone, Miles allowed himself to breathe. A small terrified whimper escaped his lips. His breathing was hectic and out of control. He had to think. He had to get to that car, and he had to get there alive. The headlights were on and the car was still running. They could come back any minute. The noise from the car would attract them. He had to move now, while he still had a chance. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, a chance for escape. He had to grab it.

He got on his feet, his knees shaking. He hurried up and packed the last of the stuff into a third backpack. Then he slowly walked to the store's front door, gagging slightly at the sight of the torn off arm and the blood on the window. He should be used to this by now. He took a look down the street to both sides and for a New York City street, it looked quiet. But they were out there, waiting around every corner. Every doorway. They were there, just waiting for him to walk out of his hiding place so they could kill him and eat his remains. It scared the shit out of him, and he hated to admit that. He hated to look weak.

Frank was waiting for him in L.A with a boat. The last possible escape in this world. They were supposed to have been there over a week ago, but they never made it out of the city. Miles had talked to Frank on the walkie yesterday and Frank said he was safe for now. He was waiting for Miles and ready to go the minute he got to L.A. Miles had told Frank to wait for him. That he would find a car as fast as possible and come to L.A. Frank had agreed to wait until Miles called him on the walkie again.

Miles grabbed his own three bags first and opened the store's front door slowly. The bell at the top rang and Miles froze, waiting for it to stop, waiting to see if _they_ had heard. It was quiet. He stepped outside. The somewhat fresh, infected, surprisingly "dead" air hit him in the face and he took a deep breath. The whole city smelled like death. It was gross. The heat didn't help. He began the short walk to the car, looking around the whole time to see if anything, dead or alive, was approaching. He reached for the handle on the car's backdoor and froze when it clicked open. Nothing happened. It was still quiet. He quickly threw his bags onto the backseat and ran back to the store for the last backpacks with the food in. He threw them onto the backseat with the others, slammed the door, and ran to the other side. He threw himself in the car, onto the driver's seat.

"Map. I need a map," Miles whispered to himself and reached over to look in the passengers seat compartment. He pulled out the map and looked it over, quickly finding his way out of the city while mumbling to himself. He'd been a cop here for years and he still couldn't find his way off of Manhattan.

"Why the hell would that idiot drive back into the city?" He put the map down on the passengers seat, put the car into gear and swung it around on the narrow street, nearly hitting a parked Volvo. Then he sped down the one-way street. He reached down for the walkie that was attached to his belt, pulled it up and pressed the button down. He yelled out for Frank and waited for him to respond. A few seconds later, he did.

"Miles?" Frank's deep, hoarse voice on the other end of the walkie filled Miles with relief.

"Good guess," Miles said sarcastically and continued, "I'm on my way now. I'll be there as fast as I can, but I don't know how backed up the highways are," He said, turning the car onto the bridge so fast the wheels squeaked under the car.

"Yeah, if you live that long with the way you're driving," Frank responded with thick sarcasm and a protective tone lying just underneath it. Frank was the only friend Miles had left in this sick world.

"It won't be my driving that kills me," Miles morbidly laughed on his end of the walkie.

"Alright then. Take care," Frank said, sounding worried for Miles' safety.

"You too." Miles quickly answered and ended the conversation.

He was over the bridge in no time and stopped to look at the map. It was mostly highways and small towns with gas stations from now on and he agreed with himself to stop for gas every time he had the chance.

He reached back into one of the backpacks and rooted around for a bottle of water. He fished it out, and placed it in the coffee cup holder. He gassed up the car and drove onto the highway, pressing the car roughly double of the speed limit. He expected no trouble, at least not for a long while, so he took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down. He looked out the front window, not really paying attention to where he was going. His mind drifted.

He tried not to think about the past few weeks. About what had happened, but the sound of the gun and his sobs were stuck in his head. He pushed it away and tried to think about what the future might hold. What his future might be. He thought about what it would be like to get away from all this. As far as he knew, this outbreak was global, but there had to be a safe place somewhere. Frank said that the safest place to be, was one of the small islands that was almost completely off the radar and impossible to find, with no poplulation what so ever. As a pilot and a fairly good sailor, Frank knew his stuff pretty well, and Miles trusted him on this one. He knew Frank would keep them both safe out on the sea.

He swallowed hard and tried not to think too many sad thoughts because, he couldn't cry all the way to L.A, even though the tears were pressing his eyes and making them hurt. He took the water bottle from the holder and drank half of it in one go. He caught himself wishing it was vodka for a moment, but he'd seen too many accidents over the years, so he only wished. He leaned back, wanting to close his eyes, but forced himself to keep them open. He could sleep when it was dark. He thought a bit about his life before all this and found himself missing it a great deal. He wished it would go back to normal. Like, turn back time. He looked at the ring on his finger and let a tear fall down his cheek as he, once again, remembered what happened a week ago.

* * *

By late afternoon, Miles had reached a small town in South Carolina, where the map said there was a gas station. He drove onto the small dirt roads and found the gas station easily. He felt the gun in the back of his jeans. He hadn't used it in a long time. He was starting to doubt his shooting skills. He took it out and turned the safety off, ready to shoot anything that would come too close. He got out of the car and quickly walked to the pump, picking up an empty jerry can standing on the ground waiting to be used. Taking extra gas with him might not be a bad idea. You never knew if maps were right about these things. They were so out-dated.

His heart was pounding in his chest as he fumbled with the handle on the pump. He hated these stranded places because you never knew _what_ could jump out from the corners or the trees. The nervous feeling building up in his chest made his knees shake and the nausea caused by just standing in this place alone was only getting worse. Miles had seen a lot of dead people in his life, and heard them as well, but the last few weeks had been crazy. He'd never seen a man getting torn apart by drooling freaks with his own eyes. He'd only heard about it from people who had. The image of the dead man's head in their hands was still stuck in his head, together with the image of the blood running down the window and the ripped off arm on the street that still had a piece of his white shirt on it. The sound of the thud on the window rang in his ears and it made him gag again. Miles had never considered himself sensitive with this stuff but this was too much for him. Over the past few weeks, he'd grown into a marshmallow, throwing up at almost everything he saw that was gross. It was disgusting, even for him.

The thing about it all that made him freak out the most, was that there were no voices, nothing at all. No last thoughts, no pleading for their lives or screams in their heads. It was quiet. They were actually _living dead._

He filled up the car and the jerry can as fast as allowed and quickly headed towards the trunk, keeping an eye out for any movements and listening carefully for any sounds. He was glad he didn't have any reason to go into the store. He didn't want to know or see what might be in there. He shook his head at the thought of what could be hiding in there.

"I hate this place," He mumbled to himself as he opened the trunk and put the can in there. He slammed the trunk shut with a loud sound. It rang through the trees. Was it always this quiet? Was it so quiet everywhere? He'd been so busy surviving this plague or whatever, that he hadn't even noticed. There was the wind, his breathing and… something moving around in the store. He froze for a moment but then quickly put his brain into gear and ripped his gun from his jeans. He held it up, his usual steady gun hand shaking worse than ever seen. He kept his eyes locked on the door, waiting for whatever it was to come out so he could blow it to hell.

The door swung open with a loud bang and Miles jumped a step backwards as he saw a young girl, roughly 19 years old, wearing a pretty blue summer dress. It was covered in blood. The girl fell out through the door and hit the ground hard. She quickly got on her feet and saw Miles with his gun. She looked normal. She didn't look infected. She looked like she'd seen something horrible. He knew she had. Who hadn't seen horrible things during this?

She took a few steps towards him and opened her mouth to speak, but only a loud hoarse breath came out. She cleared her throat violently. Then she closed her mouth again and stood still for a moment. She put her arms up, showing him she was not dangerous.

"Back off!" Miles yelled, aiming the gun better, but she kept walking towards him. Was she already one of them? Was she somehow setting him up? Was she alone or with a group? How intelligent were these things? Could they form plots? He didn't know the answer to any of those things.

She kept walking with her arms up, and Miles didn't want to take the chance. He steadied his aim, and started to pull the trigger.

"Wait!" she screamed, so shrill that it sent a shake through Miles' body. The sudden high-pitched sound surprised and shocked him so much, it made him pull the trigger and she was gone. Blown to bits on the ground. His hands shook as he tried to make sense of what just happened. He stood there, staring at her - just a teenage girl. He moved closer to the dead body. His legs shook, treathning to colapse underneath him any second. Her voice flew through his head as he came closer to the body.

 _"I don't wanna die!"_

She wasn't one of them. She wasn't even infected. He'd just shot a young, innocent girl, who needed his help.

"Fuck!" He yelled and stomped the ground hard with his right boot. He brought his hand up to his face and ran it through his hair and then back down to his mouth, where he bit the nail on his thumb. The tears were pressing his eyes, making them burn. He couldn't stop them from running. He sank down on his knees next to her body and he looked at her face. What had been a beautiful face just a few seconds ago.

"I'm so sorry," He whispered, knowing it wouldn't make a difference now. He sat there for a bit. His guard was let down and he dammed himself for having done that and for being so nervous and suspicious of everyone he met. Never again, he thought to himself. Never again would he allow himself to kill an innocent human being.

He stood up with a bit of trouble, dusted his hands off on his pants, and dried the tears away with the back of his hand. Then he put the gun back in his jeans. He walked slowly back to the car, got in and allowed himself to sit for a moment and stare at his hands, trying to put his mind back together. He needed to leave before things got any worse. More accidents could easily happen. The keys were still in and in one quick movement he turned it and put the car into gear. He drove back onto the dirt road, kicking up dust with the wheels and leaving the young girl's body behind in the sun. That would not be a pretty sight in just a few hours, but he didn't want to take the chance of burying her. He felt horrible for thinking like that. Everyone should be buried.

The roads were quiet. Not a soul to be seen anywhere. This place had been empty for some time, and it showed.

About a mile down the road, he saw a stopped car and what looked like a female creature. He couldn't see her face. Her back was turned to him. She was sitting on the ground next to a body, opposite of the car. Was she one of them? Did she just kill that man? Had she ripped him out of his car and killed him? His heart sped up and the blood was pumping in his veins. Should he speed by and hope for the best? Slow down, drive by slowly and shoot it? Which was best? He decided to speed up and drive by, leaving the creature beind with the body. He was dead anyway, so what could Miles do? Nothing at all, except maybe get himself killed for looking at a dead guy. He stepped down further on the gas, approaching faster and faster.

He saw the woman bend down towards the man's head and Miles was now sure she was one of them and it made him more nervous to be so sure. He sped up even more, wanting to leave this place fast. Suddenly the woman jumped up from the ground and ran out onto the road with her hands waving in the air like a mad person.

"Wait! Stop!"


	4. Another Woman

**Chapter Three – Another Woman**

"Come on, Mon, we gotta go," Kevin's voice rang through the small, empty Miami house. Kate, or Monica Callis as she went by now, was packing their photo albums into her suitcase as the very last thing. They were supposed to have left hours ago. They were heading for a small town just across the border to Canada called Middlebro. Kate had never heard of it before. Kevin's parents were supposedly already there waiting for them.

As she zipped up her suitcase, her eyes drifted around the small bedroom. A hint of fresh air hit her skin. It came from the open glass door, that lead out to the small backyard. Her eyes moved over the light orange walls that was once filled with pictures from the last few years. They all now rested in a photo album in her suitcase – the frames stacked nicely atop of the dresser.

Her eyes moved onto the white, almost see-through curtains and then down to the light grey, brand new carpet that they had just gotten a few weeks before the breakout. _What a waste,_ she thought to herself.

The whole room was lit up by the always shining sun and she felt the warmth of it. She left the suitcase on the bed and went over to slide the glass door shut and lock it. She closed her eyes for a few seconds taking in the sun. Then she closed the curtains out of pure habbit. She went back to the bed and stood still for a moment. When she stood still like this, she felt feelings that she didn't want to feel. Their lives were about to change drastically and she didn't like it. She liked their life the way it was. She took a deep breath to collect herself and reached out for the pillow laying on her side of the bed, wanting to bring something familiar and comfortable on the trip. She slid her free hand over the clean white sheets, imprinting in her mind how soft they were. They wouldn't get a decent nights sleep for a while. They both knew that already. It was just gonna be survival from now on.

Kate sighed deeply and stuffed the pillow under her arm. She swung the hem of her shoulder bag over her arm and grabbed her suitcase. It had gotten way too heavy. She'd stuffed everything she possibly could into that suitcase. She had become attatched to many things in their little home and leaving it behind was the last thing she wanted to do. She sat the suitcase down on it's weels, grabbed the handle and walked out into the hallway. She cast one last glance back into their bedroom.

Kate proceeded to walk through their living room. A decent sized room, with another glass door, white walls and blue curtians, with ridicolously cute clouds on them. A big cozy sofa, with a bunch of throw pillows, took up most the room's floor space. None of the furniture in their house matched and she loved it. The small, old, but still working TV sat on a dark wodden table, that she wasn't sure was actually meant for TV's. The coffee table was also wood, but newer and lighter. It had a big red stain on it from an accident with a candle.

The room was large enough to fit a small, round, white dining table with four chairs. They were all in different shapes, but the same light blue colour, that matched the curtains. The kitchen was the smallest room in the house. It was longer than it was square and it had a wodden door frame, without a door, that seperated it from the living room. There was barely room for one person in there and you could barely open the oven, but it never bothered her. She loved their home.

Next to the couch was a small table with a big white lamp and a picture on it. As Kate walked by, she quickly picked up the picture and stuffed it down her shoulder bag. _Just one more,_ she thought. She'd already brought almost every picture there was in the house, but this one from their wedding day meant a lot to her. It was one of the only days where she'd been truly happy. She doubted there would be any happy days for a long time to come.

Kevin was waiting for her in the hall - if you could call it a hall at all. His face was a mix of several different emotions. Kate detected patience and impatience, which was odd. And panic. Panic was very clear in his eyes. A small overbearing smile was sent her way, as he looked down at her shoes.

"You should change into your hiking boots," He said calmly as he took her suitcase and went outside.

Kate looked down at her shoes and realised she was wearing heels. "Of course," She whispered to herself. They wouldn't be very practical if they had to run.

She stepped out of the shoes easily and grabbed a pair of socks from the shelf. She quickly put them on and reached for her hiking boots. It was a great pair of boots that they'd had purchased together almost 2 years ago. They had been loyal to her on every hike she'd been on.

Kevin appeared back in the door frame, just as she finished tying her boots. She brushed off her hands on her jeans.

"Car's ready," He said quickly, "We should leave now."

The sudden need to rush out the door surprised her. Before she could even open her mouth to ask what the hurry was for, her question was answered. Loud and clear. There were people screaming outside and gunshots being fired close by. She jumped in surprise. She felt fear rising very quickly in her chest. Some of those things were on their street. Up until now, there had never been any of them here. It had only been on the news.

"Let's go," Kevin said as he grabbed her arm and yanked her out the door. She stumbled to the car in Kevin's hard grib. She wouldn't hold it against him. He was trying to keep them safe.

Sadness washed over her when she realised she hadn't gotten a second chance to go through the house and see if she'd missed anything. She hadn't gotten the chance to say goodbye to the home she loved so much.

Kevin yanked the car door open and rushed her inside. She quickly got in and he slammed the door hard. Kate looked out the front window. She took one last look at the house. The front door was half open. She knew that in what would most likely be days, or just hours, the house would be taken over by other people. Or even worse, burned to the ground by those who tried to survive. She looked down at the floor of the car instead. She felt a bit of pressure in her eyes. It burned.

Kate heard the trunk slam hard and a few seconds later, Kevin quickly entered the car himself. He pushed the lock down and she heard all four doors click. He reached over into the glove compartment and pulled out a gun. "Take this," He said calmly, "It's fully loaded and ready to fire."

Kate took the gun from him slowly. She'd used a gun before, but Kevin didn't know that. It didn't make her an expert though.

"It has 12 rounds," Kevin continued and she looked at him with a confused expression. No reason to let him know that she already knew what that meant. "Uh, shots," He corrected himself. She nodded. "If one of those things gets too close, you aim for the head and shoot it. OK?" Kate nodded quickly. "Only the head, Mon. Otherwise they don't die."

"But they're people," She said.

"Not anymore," Kevin shook his head. "There's nothing human about them. They only want to kill."

Kate didn't respond. It was horrible. These things used to be people and now they'd kill you in a second. Neighbours, friends. Family, even. All you could do was put a bullet in their head. That was the new rule of survival. She hated it.

"Kevin," She hesitated. When he looked at her patiently, she chose to continue, "I don't know how to use a gun."

"I'll teach you when we're safe," He answered her.

Then he turned the key and started the car. He swung it out of the driveway and headed down the once so quiet street. As they drove away, Kate saw a lot of people running around on the streets. Some had guns. Others were packing their cars as well. Some people had kids with them. She saw the Smiths quickly rushing their children into their car. They were good people. Those kids did not deserve this.

She saw a young man with a gun similar to her's. He was aiming it at something. She realised he was aiming it at one of those. It was coming towards him. It's balance was a bit off, but it didn't seem to slow it down. The young man steadied his aim and slowly pulled the trigger. The gun went off with a blast and a bullet instantly tore through the things head, sending it to the ground.

Kate jumped in her seat at the sound. The guy started running again. Kate didn't look away until he was out of sight. Didn't that have any affect on him? He'd just killed someone who used to be human. She took a deep breath to compose herself. Kevin was looking at her from the drivers seat.

"I know it's hard to look at, Mon," He whispered. He reached over to caress her cheek. She leaned into it for the few seconds it lasted. "It's OK to show how you feel," He reassured her.

"Yeah," Kate nodded and bit her lip.

Kevin knew her too well and sometimes it scared her to her very soul. He knew she kept many things to herself, but he never commented on it. Most of all, she didn't want to look weak to anyone. Not even Kevin. So she very rarely cried infront of him. There was also the always present fear that Kevin would find out who she really was and what she'd done those years ago. With Kevin being a police officer, Kate was sure he wouldn't take murder lightly. He would most likely turn her in, have her arrested and put in jail. With some things, love just isn't enough.

She felt a rush of panic at the mere thought of Kevin finding out. Her palms got sweaty in just a few seconds and she got a feeling in her stomach that made her want to throw up. She was at the breaking point. She couldn't do this anymore. She'd wanted to tell him so many times, but something else always got in the way and she would loose her nerve. In time she'd just gotten in deeper and deeper and now it had been 4 years. If she told him now, he would be hurt and he would hate her forever.

She decided that it was time. The guilt that was tearing her apart inside had to be removed. She decided that once they got to Canada, she would tell him the truth. The whole truth. She would rather live with his hate, than continue to live this lie. Chances were they would die soon. She didn't want to die without having told the truth.

She took another deep breath and felt herself relax again, after having made the decision. But now another fear took over. She reached down in her shoulder bag and pulled out her cellphone. She flipped it open and held the 3 button down. It speed dialed Kevin's mother Suzanne.

"I'm gonna try and call them agian," She informed Kevin when he looked at her. The phone rang until it went to voicemail. She hung up and pressed down the 4 instead, speed dialing Kevin's father. It went to voicemail after ringing several times. She let out a frustrated sigh and closed the phone. "They're not answering," She exclaimed.

"Mon," Kevin began, "They left days ago. I'm sure they're just fine."

"But we haven't heard from them since before they left." She threw the phone back in her bag.

"I know, but I'm sure they're fine. Don't worry so much."

Kate sighed again and put her fingers to her temples. She was worried. Very worried. They hadn't spoken to Kevin's parents since the night before they left for Canada. They resided further up in Florida. Kate and Kevin were supposed to have met with them there, but it got bad in their neighbourhood. Kevin had told his parents to drive ahead and that they would meet them in Canada. They hadn't answered her phone calls since.

Kate loved Kevin's parents. They weren't the nightmare in-laws that people always complained about. They were sweet and caring and they'd welcomed her into the family with open arms. Kate often had lunch with Suzanne, sometimes more than once a week. They went shopping together, Suzanne helped with the garden and Kate and Kevin often went to dinner at their place. They had a relationship that Kate had never even dared to hope for. Now she was worried. What if something had happened to them on the road?

She reached to the backseat and grabbed her pillow. She clutched it infront of her chest. She forced down the panic she had in her chest and tried to relax. Kevin was there and the doors were locked. They were quite safe for now. She closed her eyes and focused on taking deep breaths. Then she drifted off into a disturbed sleep.

 _Kevin had found out her secret. The cops were there, pointing guns at her, wearing vests. He was looking at her. His expression showed betrayl and anger. His body language was completely closed. He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest and looked at her, as the police slammed her to the ground. The click of handcuffs sounded loud and rang through her ears. Kevin stood completely still as they hauled her away towards the police car. She never took her eyes away from his, as she screamed his name in a hope for help. But he didn't help. He didn't move an inch, as the police officers pushed her into the back of the car and slammed the door hard._

Kate awoke with a startle. She just barely stopped a snort. She looked around, momentarely confused.

Kevin was looking at her from the driver's seat. His eyes were their usual self, filled with calm and care. She stared into them for several seconds, trying to remember the awful dream she just had. He smiled at her and turned his eyes back to the road.

"Bad dream?" He asked her.

She ran her hands over her face and through her hair. "Yeah," She sighed.

Once again, Kevin reached over and touched her cheek. Gentle and loving as always.

"It was just a dream," He comforted her as he brought his hand back to the steering wheel.

"Yeah," She repeated quietly.

The truth was, she'd been having that dream for a while now. Every time she woke with a startle, panting and sweating.

She put the seat back further and slid down a bit. Placing the pillow behind her head, she then put her feet up atop the glove compartment. She tried to rest again. She ended up laying awake instead. A million thoughts circled her mind. Everything from the past, to present, to the future. It scared her that she didn't really see much of the latter.

Almost six hours later, they crossed the border to Georgia. They had no issues getting through Florida. They had said on the news, that it was one of the last states to get hit. Kate was worried about the rest of the states they were gonna cross. She was sure it wasn't gonna be this easy. They had been in luck up until now.

Kevin drove towards a small town called Kingsland. They reached a gas station on South Lee Street and Kevin pulled in. The car's tank was almost empty, if not running on fumes already.

"We have to do this," Kevin told her as he turned off the car.

"OK," She nodded.

The road they'd just pulled off was clear of cars and people - and other things.

"Come and help keep watch," Kevin said as he unlocked the car doors and got out.

Kate quickly grabbed the gun he'd given her and got out. She rounded the car and met Kevin. His face was hard and his posture was stiff, and she knew that he was focusing on getting the job done and moving on.

She raised the gun and looked around, while Kevin grabbed the pump and stuck it in the car. His eyes were roaming the streets as well.

A few minutes passed while they quietly stood there. Kate took deep breaths to control her panic. She heard Kevin remove the pump from the car. Then she heard a faint growling noise. She spun around fast. 30 to 40 meters away from the hood of the car, was one of the things. It was coming towards them. This ones balance was also off. She could hear it even 30 meters away. She raised the gun higher.

"Kevin," She warned.

"I see it," He said quickly. "Don't shoot it. Just get in the car."

Kate instantly did what she was told, knowing that this was not something to debate. She threw herself onto the passengers seat and slammed the door. Seconds later Kevin did the same. She quickly hit the lock and heard the doors click. Kevin turned the car back on and drove back onto the road, leaving the thing behind.

"Why didn't you shoot it?" Kate asked, while the car sped away.

"There was no reason to. We were about to leave." Kevin answered. "The shot would attract more and that could get us in to trouble. It's better to just drive away."

"OK," She nodded. She placed the gun back in the small side compartment in the car's door. Then she leaned back again and closed her eyes. The emotional turmoil she experienced today, had completely exhausted her. Hopefully she'd catch an hour or two of sleep.

* * *

By late afternoon, they'd reached another small town in South Carolina called Piedmont. They were planning to stop for gas here. They had yet to encounter any trouble on their journey. Kate allowed herself to be relieved. She knew there was a long way to go yet, but she was less tired now. More focused. She felt more able to handle any troubles they might come upon. Her relief was short lived.

The car suddenly came to a halt. The engine made a hissing sound and steam or smoke started to come up from the hood.

"Shit," Kevin scolded the car and slammed his hands down on the steering wheel.

He turned the key and pulled it out. He leaned back for a second and brought his hand to his head. He rubbed his eyes hard. Kate sat quietly beside him, not knowing what to say.

Kevin clicked the locks open and started to get out. "Stay in the car," He said firmly, "I don't like the look of this place."

Kate complied. This was the exact situation they had feared the most. She rolled down her window a few inches, so she would be able to hear him.

Kevin pushed the door open and got out. Slamming it behind him, he walked to the front of the car. He already knew his mistake. The patrol car should have been to a mechanic weeks ago. Hopefully he'd be able to fix this himself. Otherwise, they would have to find another vehicle. This place didn't look too promising for that.

He popped the hood of the car and let the steam clear, before he bent over and started looking over the engine. Busted hose, he concluded after a few minutes. He couldn't fix it. "Shit," He whispered.

Kate remained quietly in the car, looking around to the sides and the back, keeping an eye out for danger. She kept her gun in her hand. She faintly heard Kevin utter a word that sounded like shit. That's not what she'd hoped to hear. The car was most likely unfixable and they'd have to look for another. This town wasn't really packed with cars. Maybe they would be lucky though.

She saw Kevin release the thin support beam from the hood and put it down in it's place. She knew what he was about to say to her. "I can't fix it," He yelled from the front of the car as he slammed the hood down.

Then she saw them. At least 7 of those things, that were no longer human. They were coming up behind Kevin. "Kevin, look out!" She yelled as she pointed through the window.

Kevin turned around quickly and saw a former person right infront of him. It's teeth were showing and it growled. He didn't have time to react before the creature lunged forward and grabbed him. It bit his shoulder hard. He yelled out loud in pain, then he pushed the creature away. He quickly regained himself, ignoring the blinding pain in his shoulder, and started walking backwards, ripping his gun from it's hoslter and holding it up to aim. He shot one down. "Stay in the car!" He yelled to Kate as he saw her reaching for the handle. He shot another one down.

Kate was on her way out of the car to help him, when he yelled at her to stay. She removed her hand from the handle and sat in the passengers seat, stiff with fear, panic flowing in her whole body. Her eyes burned. It bit him. She'd heard enough about this to know that if you got bit, you were finished. Kevin shot down a third creature. Then she saw him stumble on the side walk edge and trip. The last four creatures went directly for him. She ripped the door open and flew out of the car, with her gun in hand.

She held it up fast and took aim. She had shot a man in the leg once, but that was pure luck when she hit. She fired and missed. "Shit," She hissed through gritted teeth. Two of them were already biting Kevin. He didn't scream. She knew he tried to be brave for her. He tried desperately to fight them off, while laying in the grass, unable to get up. The blood pumped in her veins. Her heart was like thunder in her ears.

Kate took aim again. 11 more shots, she counted. She fired and missed. She instantly fired again and hit her mark. The creature fell dead to the ground. She walked towards Kevin with the gun aimed at the next. She fired again. Miss. 8 more shots, 3 more creatures. Firing again, she hit her second mark. Then her thrid.

The last creature was bent down over Kevin. He tried to push it away so it couldn't bite him. She walked directly to it and pointed the gun to it's head less than 4 inches away. Then she blew it to the ground. She looked around quickly to see if there were more. The street was empty. For now. More would come soon. She had just fired 7 shots with no silencer.

Kevin was gasping on the ground. Both in relief and pain. His lungs empty from trying to fight them off. He had at least four or five bites on his body and a ton of scratches. He knew what was gonna happen next. Fever. His body would burn him up until he died and then after a while, he would come back. As one of them. He didn't want that to happen.

Kate fell to her knees by his side. "Oh god," She exclaimed as she examined his bites. "What do I do?" She asked in panic.

Kevin's breathing fell to a more controlled level and he was finally able to talk. He ignored the pain he felt and focused on Kate. He reached up and touched her cheek. "You know what to do," He whispered.

The tears pressed her eyes and she didn't fight to hold them back. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't want to do it. She sobbed by his side. Kevin took her hand.

"I don't wanna do it," She cried.

"I know," Kevin comforted. "But you have to." His breath hitched in his throat. The pain had gotten worse in just a few minutes and he felt faint.

"But what do I do?" She whispered with shaking lips. "What do I do without you?"

"You move on," Kevin said. "You keep going. You'll find a car or some people you can go with."

"But your parents - " She started. Kevin interupted her.

"Sweetheart," He caressed her cheek. "I don't think they made it."

Her breath caught in her throat. "No," She whispered in disbelief as more tears ran down her face.

Several minutes passed where Kate sat next to her dying husband, sobbing. She could feel the heat coming off of him. It was already happening.

Kevin laid on the ground quietly. It was OK. He let her take her time. It was an unexplainable thing he was asking her do to. No one could just shoot their loved ones in the head without thinking further of it. He still had a little time left. Enough to let her get ready. He tried to breathe calmly, still ignoring the pain and now the heat burning him up. He used his last little strenght to stroke her hand with his thumb. She wasn't sobbing so loudly anymore. He knew she was almost there.

"Oh god," Kate whispered after many minutes silence. She dragged out the words. Her lips shook. Dried and wet tears stained her face. She sniffled. She inhaled deeply and held it for a few seconds. Then she let it out over her shaky lips.

"It's ok, honey," Kevin once again comforted. His voice low, loving and gentle. Surely he was scared, but mostly for her. She was the one who had to fight alone to stay alive now. Hopefully, she wouldn't be alone for long. Hopefully she would find some other people to help her. She was gonna be fine. He closed his eyes. She was gonna be fine. She'd done briliantly with the gun. If she kept practicing, she'd become a good shooter. His internal voice repeated again. She's gonna be fine.

Kate finally looked up from the grass. Her face was strained with the tears that had dried on her skin. She was no where near ready to do this, but Kevin wanted her to. She got it, she really did. She would have wanted the same thing.

"OK," She said and cleared her throat. Kevin looked at her. "I'm ready," She told him. He didn't believe her.

"Me too," He whispered. Once again he reached up to touch her face. Kate leaned into the touch.

She leaned down and cupped his face with both hands. "I love you," She said. Her voice was strong, it didn't shake. It was a statement. Then she leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. She drug it out for as long as possible. Kevin kissed her back.

She broke the kiss and slowly sat back up on her knees. She touched his cheek. "I love you," He said back. His voice was just as strong. Kate nodded. She knew he did. She took his hand and held it hard.

"OK," She exhaled hard.

Then she took her gun from it's place in the grass. She felt the grief sneek up on her already. Her eyes started burning again. Her lip quivered. She clutched Kevin's hand harder and made eye contact with him. No time for big tearfull goodbyes. They already knew everything they had to say to each other, because they said them every day. I love you, I'm gonna miss you, be safe. Every day, one of them said it all. When Kevin left for work, when she went to the store. When they went to sleep at night.

She took a deep breath. Kevin closed his eyes. She held the gun out and aimed it at his head. Her hand shook. She fought desperately to steady it. She slowly pulled back the trigger.

The gun went off with a blast and a bullet tore through Kevin's forehead. Blood splattered out onto the grass. His hand went limp in her's. He was gone.

Kate couldn't contain her grief. She wailed and fell forwards onto Kevin's chest. The gun fell to the ground and she forgot everything about keeping watch and keeping herself safe. She screamed in the middle of her cries and sobbed violently. She almost choked on her own spit. Small coughs sputtered out. She held on to his body and wished that he would come back to her. That she would wake up now and lay in her bed with him next to her. That this was all just a dream. She shut her eyes hard and kept sobbing. She briefly wondered if her heart was going to stop beating from the grief she felt right now.

Kate had no idea how long had passed. Maybe she'd slept. She honestly had no idea. She raised her head from Kevin's chest. There was still daylight. But that didn't really mean anything, cause it was summer time. It was light until late evening. She looked at her watch. An hour. No more then an hour had passed since she last looked at the clock in the car. That was right before it broke down. It had only been one hour. All it had taken to ruin her life and take the person she loved, was one single hour. She wanted to keep crying. An hour ago, Kevin had still been here. An hour ago, he'd smiled at her. Now he was dead. Bitten. Shot in the head.

Gone.

She closed her eyes and let her head hang. A few new tears escaped her eyes.

Then she heard something. Something familiar. It was a sort of humming sound. The sound of an engine. A car. It was coming this way. Her head flew so fast, she got dizzy. She looked behind her. She saw a black shape coming up the road. It was definitely a car. It was still far down the road, but coming this way.

A chance for survival.

She waited for it to come closer so she could stop it. But then the sound of the engine changed. It was speeding up. Why? Hadn't the person seen her by now. She panicked. She bent down quickly and kissed Kevin's cold lips. "I love you," She whispered, knowing that he couldn't hear her anymore. Then she jumped up and ran out onto the middle of the road, waving her hands madly in the air.

"Wait! Stop!" She screamed.


	5. The Road to Hell

**Chapter Four – The Road to Hell**

The car came to a screeching halt. The tires drug black marks across the road. Miles had hit the brake so hard, he almost stood up in his seat. He just barely stopped himself from slamming into the steering wheel. The car came to a stop just a few inches from the woman's knees.

The woman slammed her hands down on the hood of the car and leaned for support. Miles could see that she was breathing heavily. Desperate. Horrified. He rolled down his window.

"What the hell are you doing!? Are you crazy!?" He yelled to her as he leaned slightly out of the window. The shock from the sudden stop and the strange woman made him snap instead of handling the situation more calmly.

The woman ran around the car and Miles quickly drew back in his seat. She stopped by his side and leaned down to look at him. Her breath was ragged.

"Please," She breathed. "Please help me. Please take me along with you."

Miles wanted to draw further back. Her eyes bore into his. Pleading and desperate. He got a strange feeling from this woman. He'd been around a lot of people in his days as a cop and he'd learned how to read people very well. This woman was hiding something. Or she had some sort of secret. He got a feeling she wasn't to be trusted. He didn't sense danger from her. But he sensed secrets.

He took in her and the surroundings. She was a beautiful young woman, with brown eyes, around 30 years old. She was dressed in a red lumberjack shirt, that was definitely meant for a man and tight regular blue jeans, with a couple of holes in them. Her long brown hair hung loose and was messy. A hair band was making a mark around her wrist. She had on a gold wedding band, similar to his own. On her feet, she wore a decent pair of hiking boots. A gun was tucked in her waistband.

Miles looked around. The street was empty and quiet. At least 7 of the creatures laid dead on the ground. A man laid off to the side on a small patch of grass. He was dressed in regular, clean clothes. He was human, but unmoving. Dead, Miles quickly figured. Her husband, perhaps? A patrol car was parked on the opposite side of the dead body and it's side door was wide open.

He felt the woman's eyes on him the whole time. Her breathing had slowed. Her hands rested on the door, keeping her steady.

"Please," The woman pleaded once again. "Please. Take me with you."

Miles hadn't said a word since he yelled at her through the open window. He didn't know what to do. His gut told him to say no. He didn't feel mentally stable enough to be around, or take care of, another human being. He didn't need more blood on his hands. His gut kept telling him to say no. There was something about her. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"No." He said. Confident. Loud. No room for argument.

"Please!" The woman exclaimed.

"Sorry," Miles said and he meant it. "No." He reached out for the key and started the car.

"No." The woman whispered. "No. Please!"

Miles stepped down on the gas and the car moved forward. He heard the woman pleading him not to go, as he rolled up the window and continued down the empty road.

* * *

His heart pounded in his chest and his whole body felt cold, as the car drove away from the woman. In the rear-view mirror, he saw the woman fall to her knees. She buried her face in her hands. Miles swallowed hard. He tried to convince himself that he'd done the right thing listening to his gut.

But why did it feel so wrong at the same time? Why did it feel like he'd just signed that woman's death certificate?

Because he had.

He'd done what was right, yes. What was right for _him._ Not her, or anybody else.

Suddenly he had a sour taste in his mouth, a stone hard feeling in his stomach and nausea. Yeah. He'd done what was best for him. It made him feel sick. He slowed the car down, until it stopped. He sat still for a minutes time. He put his fingers to his temples and thought it all over.

He hadn't even given the woman a chance. A chance to prove herself capable. A chance to prove that maybe she could survive the trip. Sure, Miles got a feeling that she was hiding something, but that didn't mean it was a bad thing. Maybe she'd done something she wasn't proud of. Like Miles himself. And whether he took her with him, or not, it was still blood on his hands if she died. So why leave her behind to die? Why didn't she deserve a chance to live?

Miles felt disgusted with himself. Just because he was feeling bad after the loss of his wife, didn't mean he got to be such an asshole. It didn't mean he got to leave other people behind to die. Jaime would have never left that woman behind. In this world, you didn't get to do this to other people, just because you didn't have the mental capacity for it. It didn't work that way anymore.

Miles sighed. "Dammit," He whispered.

Then he put the car in reverse and pressed the gas down. The car took him back towards the woman he'd left behind.

He just hoped this was the right decision instead. He figured he'd soon find out.

* * *

Miles saw the woman stumble to her feet when she realised he was coming back. She quickly dried a few tears from her face. He stopped the car beside her and rolled the window down again.

He stared at her intensely. "Are you bit?"

The woman looked confused. "Are you bit? Scratched? Anything at all?" He asked again.

"N-no," The woman stammered while she shook her head. She pointed to the dead bodies. "They were nowhere near me."

"You're absolutely sure about that?"

"Yes." She stated.

Miles exhaled hard. "Alright. Get your stuff."

He watched the woman's eyes and body fill with relief as she pressed her hands together infront of her chest, as if she was about to pray.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed. "Thank you!"

The woman quickly turned and jogged towards the dead man's body. She sat down on her knees and ran a hand over the man's cheek. Miles watched silently from the car.. He'd just gone through the same thing with Jaime, so as impatient as he was, he was gonna let her take a few minutes to say goodbye. He knew it was an important thing to do. As long as the street stayed quiet.

If the woman said something, Miles couldn't hear it. He was also too far away to be able to read the man's thoughts. Should he offer her to do it? No. No, definitely not. He didn't need her to look at him like he was a complete weirdo. Sometimes, it only made things worse for the person left behind anyway.

After a few minutes, Miles saw the woman bend down and kiss the man, then he saw her slide something off his left hand. He was now sure that the man was her husband. Then she got up and walked towards the car. Miles called out to her.

"How much food and ammo do you have in that car?"

"Plenty." She yelled back. "I need a hand."

Miles sighed havily. He hadn't really planned on getting out of the car. He threw the door open and left the car. Walking towards the patrol car, he wondered if it was stolen, or if one of them was a cop. He instantly knew that if one of them was, it wasn't the woman.

The woman had popped the hood and had arounded the car. She was lifting out a suitcase, when Miles showed up. She sat the suitcase down and grabbed the backpack that rested in the trunk as well. Then she moved to close it.

"What about that one?" Miles said and pointed to the suitcase left behind.

"We won't need that." She answered.

Miles quickly understood that the suitcase had probably belonged to her husband. He didn't speak more of it. Instead he went to the side of the car and opened the back seat door. Grabbing the three backpacks, he watched the woman sling a purse over her shoulder. Then she started walking back towards Miles' own car. He quietly follwed.

After having left the suitcase and bags in the back of the car, they both took their seats inside.

"I'm gonna need your weapon," Miles said quietly to seem less intimidating.

The woman reached behind in her jeans and pulled her gun out. She handed it over to him without a word. "It's just until I know I can trust you," He added.

"It's OK." The woman smiled slightly. "I understand."

Miles clicked the safety on the gun on and put it in the compartment in the side door. Then he quietly turned on the car and drove down the road. The woman sat quietly beside him, looking out at the passing buildings.

"So what's your name?" Miles asked after a few minutes.

The woman turned to look at him. "Moni-" She started but imediately stopped herself. She cleared her throat and spoke again. "Kate. My name is Kate."

It didn't pass Miles' that she was about to say something similar to Monica. So maybe that was her secret? He decided to question it.

"So which one is your real name?" He asked as he glanced at her. Trying not to seem hostile.

Kate laughed nervously. "Kate." She said. "Kate is my real name."

"Alright," Miles nodded. "Kate it is."

"What's yours?"

"Miles," He smiled slightly, still trying not to seem like he didn't want her there.

"Miles," she repeated and nodded. Then she turned her head back to look out the window.

* * *

Kate sat quietly beside her new companion. She wasn't sure what to make of him yet. When he left her behind, she instantly hated him and found him cold hearted. But then he came back for her. That should get him some credit. He'd taken her along without asking too many questions and for now, her life was saved. She chose to be thankful for that, instead of focusing on the fact that he started off by leaving her to die. Something had made him change his mind, so maybe he wasn't as cold hearted as she'd judged him to be.

He was a Chinese man. She guessed. Could be Japanese. He was in his early thirties, max. His hair was as black as his eyes. But it wasn't just the colour that made his eyes dark. No. This man, Miles, had been through something. Kate ventured to guess what it was, when she saw the gold band on his left hand. Married. But not anymore. That explained the lack of life in his eyes.

He wore a dark purple/blueish looking t-shirt and a pair of black pants. They looked like a nicer version of sweat pants. He had a tattoo on the back of his neck, but Kate had no idea what it said. She didn't dare to ask either.

She sighed. Her mind drifted back to Kevin and the fact that he was dead. She felt tears burn her eyes. She quickly closed them, to keep the tears inside. She wished she could have buried Kevin, but there hadn't been time. Had they been in a more closed off erea, like their backyard back home, she would have buried him. But at least she had his wedding ring and a suitcase full of photos to remind her of him.

She felt on her pocket to make sure the ring was still there. Relief flooded her when she felt that it was.

She wondered what had happened to Miles' wife and before she could stop herself, a rush of verbal diarrhea hit her.

"How did your wife die?"

* * *

When the words reached Miles' ears, he felt like he got punched in the stomach. How did she know he had a wife? And how did she know that Jaime was dead?

His wedding ring, of course. He glanced at it. He swallowed hard before he answered.

"Pneumonia."

"Oh," Kate whispered by his side. He cast her a look as saw embarrasment in her eyes. "When?"

"A week ago," Miles answered. His voice lacked emotions, but he didn't really notice. He was reaching the numb level he'd wished for. A week too late.

"I'm sorry," Kate said in condolence.

"Yeah," Miles whispered. "Me too." He took a deep breath and continued. "The worst part was that she turned."

"Turned?" Kate asked curiously.

"Yeah. She became one of those."

"Oh god."

Miles glanced to the side and saw Kate covering her mouth. He realised she hadn't seen that happen. Her husband hadn't turned when she shot him. Did she know that you would turn, no matter how you died? Miles looked at the map, to make sure he was on the right highway.

"How did your husband die?"

Beside him, he heard Kate take a deep breath. "Um," she started off slowly. "The car broke down. Kevin went out to take a look and when he slammed the hood back down, they were already close behind him. I tried to warn him, but it was too late. He tripped on the curb. I shot down four of them before…" She took another deep breath. "He was bitten. I shot him in the head."

Miles kept quiet, but was a little stunned of the strength this woman had. She'd shot her own husband before he even turned. Before he had even died. She definitely had more strength than he'd given her credit for.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," He said. "I think that was very brave."

Kate smiled a sad smile, "Yeah. I'm sorry too."

* * *

The highway they drove on was currently fairly clear. Miles wavered in and out between some cars here and there, but most of the time he kept the speed he wanted to. He wanted to put as much road behind him as possible before it got dark.

Beside Miles, Kate suddenly realised that she'd forgotten to ask an important question. She turned her head. "Where are we going, by the way?"

"Los Angeles," Miles answered and glanced on the map again. "I have a friend with a boat, who's waiting for me."

Kate kept to nodding and didn't ask any follow up questions. She was just glad that she wasn't alone. She didn't care where they were going, as long as they got there alive.

Several hours later, the sky started turning darker and darker, so Miles decided to pull in at the next rest stop. It was too dangerous to drive at night. They could get blocked by cars, get lost or run into a herd of the creatures. The clock had reached 9pm and Miles realised he'd been up for almost 18 hours.

His whole body was exhausted. It felt like he'd been awake for a week. His mind was getting clouded and his eyes were dry. He kept blinking to focus on the road. His stomach churned and his throat was as dry as Sahara. He hadn't taken a drink of water since before he stopped for gas back in the little town.

Miles barely noticed Kate beside him. She'd been quiet almost the whole trip. He figured she wasn't very talkative, due to having lost her husband. Miles couldn't exactly say he was in a very chatty mood either. The silence suited him fine. He steered the car to the side and headed for the rest stop.

"We'll sleep here tonight." He said.

"OK." Kate answered and covered her mouth to yawn.

Miles stopped the car in the middle of the empty parking lot. There were no other cars or people and to their luck, no creatures. He quietly turned off the car and reached behind him to pull a bag pack onto his lap. Digging through it he found a few bottles of water and handed one to Kate.

"You don't happen to have anything with sugar in it, do you?" She asked. Miles thought he heard a hint of embarrasment in there somewhere.

"There's some soda in one of the other bags," He answered, pointing to the back seat. "Eat whatever you feel like." He tried simling at her, but he wasn't sure it was very convincing.

Kate reached around her seat and grabbed a bag and pulled it onto her own lap. She unzipped it and dug through it, finding a few cans of soda on the bottom. She grabbed a cola and put it atop of the dashboard. A box of cereal caught her eye and even though they didn't have milk, she opted for just eating it straight out of the box. Miles had stayed quiet for most of the trip, but she didn't mind. Obviously he wasn't much for asking questions and neither was she. She had enjoyed the silence and taken some time to mourn her loss in peace. She put the bag back behind her seat and opened the soda can. Her sugar level was low and she felt much better after having downed half the soda. Beside her, she saw Miles had stuck to his water and opened a pack of crackers. In his left hand he had an apple, which surprised her. She thought things like that would have gone bad a long time ago. She looked around the parking lot. It was dark. Empty. Scary. Kevin might not be here to keep her safe, but at least she wasn't all alone. She was thankful for that, at least.

"I'll be right back," Miles suddenly broke the silence. "I have to do something."

"Alright," Kate answered and she figured he probably had to pee.

"Stay in the car." He said firmly as he threw open his door.

Miles slammed the car door behind him. He walked away from the car, to get a bit of distance and privacy. Once a safe distance away but close enough to get back fast, Miles reached for the walkie talkie attatched to his belt. He turned it on and checked for a signal. A couple of bars showed and he hoped it was enough to reach Frank. He still hadn't told him about Jaime's death.

"Frank!" Miles called out into the walkie. He waited a minutes time, then he repeated.

Frank answered after Miles' second call. "Miles? Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm in Alabama now."

"Have any troubles?"

"No." Miles lied. "I figure it's gonna take, maybe two more days to reach you. Can you still wait?"

"Yeah, I can wait," Frank eased Miles' mind. "I'm still safe enough. They don't venture all the way down here."

"Good," Miles sighed. Relieved.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Frank asked. They'd known each other for many years by now and even though Frank was older than him, they were great friends. Frank knew Miles almost as well as Jaime had.

"Yeah," He sighed again. "I've just had a rough 24 hours."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No, it's alright." Miles smiled a little to himself. "I'll be in touch soon. Just stay safe until I get there."

"I will." Frank ended.

Miles turned the walkie off again and put it back in his belt. Hearing Frank's voice was a relief, even though he'd spoken to him just that same morning when he left New York. He rubbed his eyes hard. He really wanted to get this trip over with and get the hell out of this country.

He turned and walked back towards the car. Kate was looking at him through the window. He slid back into the drivers seat and locked the doors. He picked up his water bottle and took a sip.

"Is your friend OK?" Kate asked quietly, not sure how the question would be recieved.

"Yeah. He's fine." Miles did his best to be friendly. "He's waiting for us."

"Good," Kate tried a smile, but like Miles, it wasn't all that convincing. Smiling seemed so out of place right now.

Miles put the back of his seat down as far as it went and tried to lie down. It was difficult and uncomfortable. "Stay in the car," Miles repeated to make sure Kate didn't have any stupid ideas and wandered off.

"Got it," she said and Miles saw her put her own seat down.

He took some deep breaths to relax himself and hoped he would drift of to sleep soon. He tried planning their next steps for the trip in his mind, but didn't get far before dreams took over.

Kate laid awake for what seemed like hours. She tried to curl up on her side. It was uncomfortable, but worked. She switched between looking at Miles, who looked at peace in his sleep and closing her eyes, trying to drift off herself. At some point during the evening sleep took over and sent her into a dreamworld full of weird things and situations.

* * *

Miles was half awake when he noticed what had disturbed his sleep. First he'd thought it was a dream, but no. There was several different sounds around him. There was a scraping sound. As if someone kept scraping their shoe against the ground. No. More like dragging it. There was also a sound that brought back memories in his half asleep mind. He'd woken to this sound before. Only now, it echoed. It was a growling.

His eyes shot open and he was instantly blinded by the sun. It was morning already. He sat up to find out where all the noise came from. Looking around the parking lot, Miles became horrified.

At least 50 to 60 creatures filled the parking lot around the car. They drug their feet and their breathing came out as growls. The echoing Miles had heard, wasn't an echo. It had sounded that way, because there were so many of them. Miles snapped in a breath, that hitched in his throat.

" _Shit,"_ He mouthed without sound.

He quickly laid back down in his seat the avoid being seen. A creature passed his window and blocked the sun shortly. He snapped his head to the side. Kate slept quietly beside him. He debated himself. Wake her up and risk having her loose it, or let her sleep and risk her waking up on her own. He decided to wake her up as calmly as possible. He slowly placed his hand over her mouth to make sure she didn't utter a word when she woke. Then he whispered her name.

"Kate. Wake up."

Kate's eyes shot open and she quickly reacted to his hand over her mouth. Both her hands rushed up to grab his hand and his wrist. Her legs jerked at the same time. Panic rose in her eyes. Miles quickly put a finger infront of his mouth.

"Shhhhhh!" He hissed. She went quiet. He slowly removed his hand. "Don't move!" he reprimanded.

"What's going on?" she exclaimed. She tried to sit up but Miles quickly pushed her chest down again.

Then she heard it. Growling. The sun was blocked outside her side of the car. A creature stopped and looked through her window. She whimpered. Her heart picked up it's pace rapidly. Sweat broke out all over her body. The creature put it's hands on the window and pushed on it. The window didn't give. It's hands moved down and it found the handle to the door.

Kate's heart pounded so loud, she was sure if she looked down, she could see it hammer against her skin. But she didn't look down. Her eyes were tained on the creature. Her breath was now stuck in her throat. She watched the creature find the handle to her door. She'd long forgotten that it was locked and her fear took over.

"Oh my god – " She almost screamed.

She barely got the whole sentence out before Miles' hand clamped down over her mouth once again. Miles knew that if she caught the attention of just one of them, they would all surround the car in seconds and they would both be dead. They would have no chance of starting the car and getting away. The creature stopped pulling the handle and looked through the window again.

Miles' heart pounded in his chest and his breathing wasn't even there anymore. He could feel Kate's ragged breath on his hand and he had no idea, if it was her's or his own heart he could hear pounding. He tried to ignore it and focused on keeping still. Kate's hands were once again wrapped around his hand and wrist, but this time it was not to remove them. It was for comfort.

They laid still for what felt like hours. Both their hearts never slowed down. Everytime a creature passed close to the car, they would both tense up even more. Knowing the car doors were locked, was a small comfort. If they attacked, they would eventually break the windows.

After what had most likely only been less than 15 minutes, Miles dared to remove his hand from Kate's mouth. She stayed down and kept quiet. A creature hadn't passed in a few minutes. Miles hoped that this meant they were almost gone. He sat up slowly.

The parking lot was almost empty. Around 5 creatures lingered, spread out around them. The rest had headed towards the wooded erea infront of the car, across the parking lot. Miles exhaled loudly. They made it. The herd had passed without seeing them. He'd never felt so lucky in his life.

Kate sat up slowly when she saw Miles flip the back of his seat up. She brought her own up in upright position as well. Her heart still pounded even though she saw that the parking lot was almost empty. A few of them still lingered, but they were spread out. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm her heart down. They made it. She silently reprimanded herself for almost bringing them in danger. From now on she would remember to stay quiet. She had nearly killed them both by almost screaming. She figured Miles would probably tell her the same thing, but she wouldn't blame him for it. She had to step up her game.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both breathing deeply to get their pulse down. Miles dug out a couple of water bottles and they both drank almost half of both bottles. Then Miles fished the keys out of his pocket and stuck it in the ignition. He'd taken them out last night when he left the car. He still didn't trust Kate enough to leave the keys in the car. He started the car, swung it around and headed back towards the highway. His heart had calmed down nicely and the adrenaline started leaving his body. He looked to the side and saw Kate putting her hair up in a ponytail. She looked fairly calm by now. Miles decided to try and be positive and compliment her for doing well, but still letting her know that she needed to be much more careful in the future.

"Are you OK?" He asked and turned the car onto the highway.

Kate finished her ponytail and leaned back into the seat. "Yeah," she exhaled. "I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life though."

"You did good," Miles complimented her. "But next time something like this happens, you really have to stay quiet."

"Yeah, I know," She nodded. "I almost killed us both. It won't happen again."

"It's OK," Miles eased her mind. "We're still alive." He tried to put on a reassuring smile.

Kate laughed hysterically. Her adrenaline hadn't quiet died down yet. She would most likely need some sugar soon. She reached around to grab one of her own backpacks. Digging through it, she pulled out a couple bags of candy. They rested in her lap, while she put the bag back behind her.

Miles glanced at the pile of candy Kate had dug out of her bag. He briefly raised his eyebrows. Kate caught the action and smiled a bit shyly.

"I'm a bit of a sugar addict." She laughed.

Miles let of a brief chuckle and looked down at his map. They were getting closer to L.A every minute. It relieved him to get closer, but he still had the poking fear in the back of his mind, that at some point, something was going to happen. Something worse than a herd passing by the car.

* * *

Just after the clock had passed noon, they'd reached a smaller town just across the border to Oklahoma, called Muldrow. They'd only had two short stops for gas and bathroom breaks. They hadn't spoken much to each other but they were both comfortable with it.

Kate had tried calling her in-laws again, knowing it was useless. Kevin was convinced they hadn't made it but Kate wasn't all that ready to give up yet. Miles had shortly commented on her efforts and she knew he was right as well. It was just another loss she would have to survive. And she would. But she was still devastated by the thought that they might be dead.

Miles tried to keep his head as clear as possible. Focusing on the task, he tried to push everything else aside. When he spotted a small Police Station across from a gas station, he pulled in. They could fill up the car and search the station for useful things.

"We should search that station." Miles said as he turned the car off. He took the keys out and hid them just under the front seat. Easy to reach, but not easy to find if you didn't know. He didn't wanna risk dropping them if they got in trouble inside the station. He threw the door open and left the car. Kate joined him on the other side of the car a few seconds later.

Miles dug through one of the bags in the back seat to find a couple of knives. He pulled out two knife sheaths and handed one over to Kate. "That goes in your belt." He instructed.

She started unbuckling her belt while he found two knives. "Why do we need knives, when we have guns?"

"Because we don't want to attract attention by firing off a weapon." Miles answered. "Aim for the head. Always aim for the brain. OK?"

"Got it." She nodded. "So if they get close, I stab them in the head?"

"Yes."

He handed her a hunting knife and she sheathed it. He hooked his own knife to his belt and slammed the car door. He walked to the gas pump to fill up the car first. He didn't like the quiet of this place.

Leaving the car by the gas station, hoping it wouldn't be gone when they got back, they both headed for the station. Miles pushed the front door open and was met with an open spaced room. A front desk was ahead of him. The offices, kitchen and locker erea was off to the right and to the left there was a staircase that most likely lead down to a couple of holding cells and a weapon cage.

"You check the offices, kitchen and locker rooms, down the hall there." Miles pointed to the right. "I'll go downstairs to the weapon cage and see if there's anything useful. Grab anything you think we might need."

"Alright," Kate nodded and headed to the right.

"Don't get yourself killed!" Miles yelled as he decended the stairs.

Kate laughed humorlesly.

* * *

Miles ran down the stairs and quickly checked the holding cells. In the last cell, a creature slammed up against the bars. Miles quickly stepped back to avoid it's grabbing hands. A bullet hole was visible in the upper chest and Miles knew that the police had shot the former man through the bars instead of letting him out. _Poor bastard._ Miles thought to himself.

He took his knife out of the sheath and approached the bars. Pushing the creatures hands away, he reached in between the bars and smoothly stabbed it in the head. It fell to the floor dead. Miles shook his head. How did the world end up like this?

He sighed as he walked down the hall and found the weapon cage. A big padlock kept Miles from being able to enter. "Shit." He whispered.

Walking towards a small desk erea, Miles hoped to find a key somewhere. He was very reluclant to shooting the lock open. But he would if he ended up having to. He searched the first desk. Nothing. Walking towards the next, he saw a pair of boots sticking out from behind it. He rounded the desk and found a cop laying dead on the floor. A bullet hole in his temple, told Miles that this man killed himself. Judging by the body, it wasn't long ago either. The gun had fallen to the floor beside him. Miles picked it up and checked the mag. One bullet was missing. He sighed loudly.

He turned the body over in a hope to find a key that fit the big padlock. A bundle hung in the belt. Miles gently clicked it off and stood back up. He walked back to the cage.

After trying three different keys, Miles got the padlock open and entered the weapon cage. There wasn't much to find, but a few handguns and boxes of ammo still laid around the small cage. Miles grabbed a bag and started putting everthing in it. He grabbed a couple of walkie talkie batteries and an extra walkie to make sure he would be able to reach Frank when he needed it.

* * *

Kate walked towards the small locker room, down the hall from the reception erea. Entering, a sharp smell of death hit her nose. She almost gagged. Grabbing a backpack she started searching the different lockers. She found nothing useful, besides deoderants and shampoo bottles.

A dead body laid on the floor by the wall. He had a bullet hole in his head. As Kate looked closer, she saw his shirt was shreaded. The man had been bitten and then shot by someone else. She chose not to give in to her weaker feelings and walked back towards the door, leaving the locker room. She headed for the kitchen next. Finding some water bottles and a bit of food that hadn't gone bad, she swung the bag over her shoulder.

As she rounded the corner, heading towards the offices, her path was blocked. She looked up and gasped loudly. "Shit!"

A creature was heading straight towards her. Growling, holding it's grabbing hands out towards her. She walked backwards, keeping her eyes on the dead man coming towards her. Forgetting to turn the corner, her back hit the wall. Her heart pounded in fear, her mouth was dry and her palms were sweaty. She froze against the wall. In her mind, she knew that this wasn't the time for panic, but her body wouldn't move. Her hand wouldn't reach for the knife. Her lungs wouldn't take in air.

The creature lunged towards her, grabbing her shoulders with it's disgusting hands. Adrenaline shot through her body and her arms swung into action. At the same time, she drew in a large breath. Flailing her arms at the creature, desperately trying to keep it's teeth away from her skin, she let out the breath she'd been holding.

It came out as a horrified scream.

* * *

A loud scream bounched off the walls and Miles' head shot up. "Shit!" He yelled.

He threw the bag over his shoulder and ran towards the staircase. His heart already pounded. What if she had been bitten? He steered towards the hallway where the offices where. At the end of it, by the corner, he spotted her. Kate was desperately fighting of one of the creatures. She pushed at the creature's face while it held on to her shoulders with it's blood covered hands.

"Use your knife!" He yelled while he dropped the bag on the floor and ran towards her. But she couldn't get to her knife because of the creature. He ran towards her with all his might.

Yanking his own knife from it's sheath, he lunged forward and buried the knife in the creature's head. It was all over in just a few seconds. Pushing the dead thing away, he pulled the knife out. It fell to the floor. This time definitively dead. Miles instantly turned to Kate, seeing her shocked expression. He walked the few steps over to her.

"Why didn't you use your knife!?" He yelled in her face, while he shook her shoulders roughly. Her whole body shook beneath his hands. She made eye contact with him.

"I'm sorry!" She yelled. "I panicked OK! I'm not used to killing people!" She pushed his arms off roughly.

Miles took a step back and brought his hand to his forehead. The other rested on his hip. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. His body shook with adrenaline.

Kate sank to the floor. With her knees dragged up to her chest, she buried her head in her hands and exhaled loudly. Tears pressed her eyes and fought to get out. She let them. Her breath hitched and her chest jerked. She cried loudly into her hands. She knew she'd done the wrong thing by panicking. She'd almost gotten herself killed.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ She kicked herself mentally.

"I can't cover your ass forever, Kate!" Miles said harshly. "You have to learn to kill these things, whether you like it or not. This can't happen again. They're not people, OK? They're dead! They'll kill you!" He yelled the last sentence out.

Kate wasn't going to argue against Miles' words, no matter how harsh they were. They were true and she couldn't argue against the truth. She looked up at his face. It was a hard mask of controlled anger. "I know!" She yelled through her tears. "I said, I was sorry!"

She buried her head in her hands again and kept sobbing. She couldn't make herself stop and figured it was because of the shock and adrenaline. She fought to take deep breaths in and calm herself down.

Miles stood a few feet away from Kate. His heart had returned to it's normal beat and his anger had died down enough for him to feel bad about not having been more controlled. He stepped towards Kate and crouched down infront of her. He gently reached out and touched the lower part of her leg, trying to show empathy.

"It's OK," He said. "We just can't have that happen again." He moved his hand up to her shoulder trying to be comforting. "Did it bite you?" He whispered after some silence.

Kate raised her head and dried her tears away witht the back of her hand. "No," She whispered. "It grabbed my shoulders though."

"I'll take a look."

Miles leaned forward to take a look at her shoulders. Her shirt wasn't broken, so the creature couldn't have scratched her. He wanted to be sure though. "Can you pull your shirt down over your shoulders?"

Kate did as instructed and Miles checked her once again to make sure. There were red marks from fingers but the skin wasn't broken. He sighed from relief. "Nothing." He said to ease her mind quickly.

"Good," She whispered and pulled her shirt back over her shoulders. Relief flooded her when Miles told her there was nothing to see. She'd been so worked up, that she hadn't thought about scratches.

"We better get going," Miles said and stood up. He offered Kate a hand and she took it.

"Did you find the guns?" She asked him, while she dusted off her jeans.

"Yeah. There was a couple of handguns and some ammo. The rest had been cleared out."

"I saw a dead body." She blurted out.

Miles stared at her for a moment. "What?"

"In the locker room. I saw a dead cop. He had a bite. Someone killed him."

"Probably the dead cop I found downstairs." Miles said.

They quietly walked back to where Miles had dropped the bag of guns. They skipped searching the offices and headed back towards the front door.

Miles opened the door carefully, holding a gun tight in his right hand. Kate followed behind him with her own gun in hand. He looked around outside before carefully stepping out onto the concrete steps. Nothing was in sight. They proceeded down the steps and crossed the road quickly, keeping an eye out for danger.

Once back in the car, Miles quickly left the gas station, not making any conversation or dragging time out. He didn't regret the harsh words he'd said to Kate inside the police station, because they were the truth and she would have to learn to live with it sooner or later.

Kate sat quietly beside him, looking through a backpack. She pulled out a juice box and leaned back in her seat to calm down. Her cheeks felt tight because of the dried tears on her face. She slowly drank the juice, feeling her bloodsugar stabalise itself again. She tried to calm herself by thinking back on some good memories. She thought of when she first met Kevin and then when he asked her to marry him. Their wedding. The way their daily life was just perfectly normal. The love they'd shared. Suddenly she felt sad and didn't want to think about it anymore.

"Where did you come from?" She asked Miles, who almost jumped in his seat when she broke the silence.

"Manhattan." He answered a few seconds later. "How about you?"

"Miami."

"What was it like there, when you left?"

"It didn't get bad in our neighbourhood, until a few days before we left," She paused. "I think up north was worse. Kevin's parents had to leave before we got there, because it got really bad."

"Where were you heading?" Miles asked.

"Canada. Some town called Middlebro, I think."

"Never heard of it." Miles raised an eyebrow.

"Me neither," Kate laughed shortly.

* * *

It was close to 10PM when they passed an old country house on a dirt road. They were heading for another small town across the border to Texas, called Kerrick. The old house was located a few miles outside the town. It looked dark and abandoned. Miles pulled in and parked the car a short walk from the house.

"Let's check it out." He said and pulled the key from the ignition.

Kate hesitated. "What if there's people in there?"

Miles saw some fear in her eyes when he looked at her, but he didn't know where it came from.

"Then we ask them nicely, if they can spare some space. If not, we'll move on."

"But –" Kate started when Miles pushed open his door. She quickly threw open her own. Slamming it behind her, she ran after him. She grabbed his arm. "Miles."

He stopped and turned to look at her. It was very clear he thought she was being ridiculous. Maybe she was.

"What if they're crazy!?" She whispered.

"Kate. Come on," Miles rolled his eyes at her. "If anything, it's an eigthy year old couple in there. But it's empty. Just look at the place." He pointed towards the house. Pulling his arm from her grip, he started walking towards the front door.

"Haven't you ever seen The Happening!?" Kate hissed behind him.

"What?" Miles turned once again and almost laughed.

"The crazy old lady, in the farm house! Didn't you ever see it?"

"I saw it. But that was a movie, Kate. Come on. Nothing is going to happen." He laughed.

A few seconds later, they both stood by the front door of the farm house. Miles knocked loudly several times and waited. After a few minutes, he knocked again. No one came to answer. He took his gun out of his jeans and turned the door knop slowly. The door opened with a small squeak. They both entered and Kate closed the door behind them.

The house was mostly dark. The little remainig light from the summer evening sent a small glow in through the closed curtains. They'd entered into a large living room, with a connected kitchen and open dining area. Keeping their guns handy, they walked towards the hallway. Two rooms on each side, all with their doors open. The first was an office. The one across was a bathroom. Both were empty. No living or dead was in sight. They moved on to the two rooms at the end of the hall. One was a bedroom, most likely used by the people who used to live there. The other was a guestroom, with a tiny bathroom connected. Both of those were empty as well.

After checking all the closets and under the beds, they walked back to the car to get the bag of guns and a bag of food and water. In case someone decided to steal the car during the night. Miles doubted it though. He locked it when they left and knew there was a heavy alarm on it. They would know if anyone tried to steal it.

Back inside the house, they found out that the lock in the front door worked and decided to use it. Miles walked to the guestroom down the hall and Kate quietly followed behind him. They closed the door and sat the bags down on the queen sized bed that took up most of the space in the room.

"Let's shift this against the door," Miles said, pointing to a large wodden dresser.

Together they pushed it over until it covered the door. Then they both collapsed on the bed. Miles found himself exhausted once again and he just wanted to sleep for a few days without being disturbed.

Kate closed her eyes for a few seconds and enjoyed the feeling of a soft bed under her back. She'd only slept in the car that one night, but that was enough for her to find out, she didn't like it. After a few minutes, she got up and grabbed one of the bags. She dug out a few apples that still looked good and some canned stuff, she wasn't sure you could eat raw. Miles joined her a few minutes later.

He'd almost fallen asleep the second his back hit the bed. He remembered that one would have to keep watch, while the other slept and he wanted to take the first shift. He ate a bit of food and sat with his back against the headboard of the bed.

"I'll keep watch, while you get some sleep," He said. "I'll wake you in about four hours and then you can keep watch."

"OK," Kate simply nodded and laid down on the opposite side of the bed. The feel of a pillow and blanket eased her into a deep sleep shortly after.

* * *

Miles hardly moved during the four hours he kept watch. He only got up once to use the toilet. Kate slept soundly by his side and he could barely hear her breathing. He checked several times to see if she was still alive. He even felt her forehead to make sure she didn't have a fever. He could have missed the smallest scratch on her earlier, when he'd checked her. Her forehead was it's normal temperature though and it eased Miles' mind a bit.

When the clock showed 2.30AM, Miles woke Kate up so she could take the next shift. She instantly grabbed a bag of candy, to keep herself busy for the next, roughly, four hours. She was still tired and her eyes were blurred.

Beside her, Miles laid down to sleep. He savored the feeling of the pillow and the bed beneath him. Having slept on the floor of a grocery store for a week, he'd forgotten what a bed felt like. He laid awake for what felt like a long time. He was tired, but his mind wouldn't let him fall asleep. He fought hard to clear it and create an image in his head and eventually, he drifted off to sleep.

Kate fought to stay awake for the first two hours of her watch. Her eyes never cleared up and she yawned every fifth minute. Her eyes kept drifting shut and she considered getting up and moving around for a bit. But she didn't want to draw attention or wake Miles up. He looked exhausted and she wondered where he'd slept, and how much, before he picked her up back in Piedmont.

She remained in the bed, sitting up against the headboard. Her eyes drifted shut once again. This time they stayed shut and Kate drifted off, into another deep sleep, without even realising that she did it.

* * *

Miles awoke with a startle. He didn't know what had woken him. He'd been dreaming about picking sunflowers on the north pole. Ridiculous. He shook his head, to shake the stupid dream. The sun tried to burn it's way through the curtains, that covered the one small window the room had. He looked at his watch. 8AM. He sighed. He wanted to have left at 7AM. He looked to the side and found Kate sleeping deeply beside him. He didn't bother getting angry at her for falling asleep on her watch. They were quiet safe in here. He sat up slowly.

He turned his head to Kate's side, just in time to miss the herd of human figures that passed by the window.

"Kate," He shook her shoulder lightly. "Kate. You fell asleep." He whispered.

Kate woke with a snort. Momentarely confused, she sat up quickly. Then she remembered where she was and what had happened. "Oh no," She said. "I fell asleep!"

"It's OK," Miles calmed.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."

"It's fine," Miles repeated and smiled for reasurrance.

They slowly got up from the bed. Both their bodies ached. They picked up their bags and pushed the dresser away from the door. Opening it quietly, Miles took a look out in the hall before he stepped out. Kate followed.

That's when he heard it. So many of the same sounds clashed together. Growling, loud breathing. It had the same echoing as the day before in the parking lot. He stopped dead in his tracks. Kate, who was covering her mouth while yawning, bumped into him.

Then she heard it as well. She froze. Her ears listened intently to the sounds outside the house. Then Miles moved infront of her. She stood still. Her heartbeat picked up once again. She briefly wondered if she would end up with a heart attack soon.

Miles moved across the living room floor and cracked the curtain by the front door. "Shit!" He hissed.

The entire front of the house and the car was surrounded by creatures. They were everywhere. By the door, on the steps and blocking the car. He went to the opposite side of the room to look out the back door. Also surrounded. There was no way out. No gap.

"We're surrounded," He announced as he turned back to Kate. She stood still in the middle of the room, frozen.

"What are we gonna do?" She whispered

"We're gonna have to fight our way out," Miles exhaled loudly. "It's either that, or wait for them to get in here."

"How are we gonna get through? There's a whole bunch of them!" Kate's voice went up a few octaves.

"With guns," Miles stated and went back to the window to look and count. He made a plan in his head while he talked. "Knives too."

"There's no way we can get through that!" Kate exclaimed.

"We can. I'll go first and shoot as many as I can. Then I'll switch to knife. We won't have time to reload the guns. You'll follow behind me and shoot the ones that get's past me. OK?" Miles looked at her for confirmation of his plan.

"But, Miles. I can't shoot."

"You can. They will be close enough for you to hit them with your first shot." He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked into her eyes. "Trust me."

She merely nodded at him. He let go of her shoulders and pulled out his gun. Checking it was fully loaded and the safety was turned off, he pulled the strap on the gun bag over his head as well so he wouldn't drop it on the way. Behind him, Kate checked her own weapon as well, then she put on the backpack.

She took a deep breath. This was no time for panic. If she wanted to live, she had to fight to get to that car. She mustered up all her strength. Taking a deep breath, she held it and made eye contact with Miles. They nodded at the same time.

Then Miles reached for the lock on the door and turned it quietly. He grabbed the door knop and looked over at Kate one more time. He wasn't at all that sure about what they were about to do. For all he knew, they would both die the second they left the house. But at least they would go down fighting.

"Let's go," Miles said and turned the door knop.


	6. Goodbye Mad World

**Chapter Five – Goodbye, Mad World**

Miles ripped open the door and it slammed against the wall - almost flying off it's hinges. He instantly aimed the gun and fired it at the creature standing infront of him. It fell backwards down the stairs, into several other creatures. Miles stepped out onto the porch with the gun still raised. He looked quickly to the left, then to the right. One came towards him from the right. He aimed and fired. He felt Kate's presence in the doorway behind him. He prayed silently that she wouldn't panic and freeze. And that she would cover his back.

Standing at the top of the stairs to the porch, Miles aimed again. Clearing the ground by the end of the stairs he stepped down two steps. He kicked a creature in the chest sending it backwards. The rest of the herd was becoming aware of the noise and was starting to close in on the stairs. Miles considered going back into the house. They could load up all the guns. They had more than enough ammo to shoot every single one. But the creatures would storm the house before they could be ready. The noise would just attract more. Probably already had. No. They had to fight their way through the herd. There was no going back inside.

Kate stood quietly a few steps behind Miles, waiting for him to move. She was beginning to worry he might be panicking. She saw him waver. Then she knew he was making a decision. The way he shifted his weight from left to right. His eyes were scanning the herd. Her heart pounded in her chest while she waited for Miles to make his choice. She raised her gun to be ready to cover his back. Then Miles suddenly started to move. She followed quickly.

Miles ran forward down the last step and into the herd. He shot the creatures down as they tried to surround him. He heard another gun go off. Then again and again. He didn't have time to look back. A creature fell dead at his side. Miles pushed and shoved at the creatures around him. He was out of bullets. He ripped the knife from his belt and stabbed the creature who had a hold of his arm.

Kate moved along behind Miles, keeping an 8 feet distance. She kept her gun aimed and tried to shoot down as many creatures as she could. She managed to shoot one down, right beside Miles' head, without killing him, and in her first shot. She ran out of bullets faster than she'd counted on. There were too many of the creatures for them to handle. The 20 meters to the car suddenly became the longest distance she'd ever had to walk. She threw the empty gun on the ground and grabbed her knife.

Miles pushed and stabbed his way through the herd, more than once fighting off a grabbing arm on his sleeve. He had no idea if he'd been scratched or bitten, he didn't feel any pain because of the adrenaline running through his body. The gunshots behind him had stopped long ago and all he could hear now was the growling and aggravated sounds of the herd.

The distance to the car became shorter and shorter, while they fought their way through. Kate covered Miles back and didn't freeze one single time, which Miles would find time to feel relieved about later on.

Kate fought off grabbing arms, hoping their nails didn't break her skin as she pushed them away. Infront of her, she saw Miles repeatedly doing the same thing. Her breathing was ragged and her arm was tired. The kickback from the handgun had practically paralyzed her hand up to the wrist. A creature lunged forward towards her, it's teeth merely inches away from her. She grabbed a hold of it's shoulder and stabbed it in the head, pushing it to the side. She almost let out a growl of anger.

The car was only a few feet away and the space by the side of it clear, except for a few creatures. Miles grabbed the keys with his left hand and unlocked the doors. Taking down the creature right by the door, he pulled the handle so hard it almost came off. The door flew open and Miles turned for the first time since leaving the house. A creature reached out for him and tried to bite his shoulder but Miles was quick and pushed it away, with a hand on it's face. Then he drove the knife into it's skull and kicked it in the stomach. He turned back to look towards the way they came from. He saw Kate a few meters away, driving her knife into one of them. Her arms were covered in blood. As was his own.

Miles lifted the strap of the gun bag over his head and threw it into the car, then he ran forward to help Kate. Tackling a creature who was inches away from biting her arm, he stomped down hard on it's head. The rotten bones and flesh buckled under the weight of his foot. Blood spattered up on his boot and pant leg. He turned and grabbed Kate's arm, pulling her infront of him. He pushed her forward towards the car.

They ran for the door and Miles quickly pushed on Kate's back to get her in the car. She didn't comment on it, cause she knew he was just trying to keep her alive. She jumped into the car on the drivers side and quickly climbed over to the passenger seat. Before she got there, Miles had already jumped into the car and slammed the door shut. Kate reached out fast and pushed the lock down on her side, locking all four doors at once.

The creatures started turning, coming towards the car. Miles quickly put the key in the ignition and started the car. As several creatures surrounded the car and slammed against the windows, Miles put the car in reverse and floored the gas. The car went backwards like a rocket and took down more than one of the creatures, making the car bump as it drove over them. The creatures turned and started following the car. Miles turned out onto the road and put the car back in drive. Once again, he forced the car forward faster than it would. They sped down the road, leaving the herd behind, the creatures being too slow to have a chance to follow them.

* * *

A few minutes later, they entered the town Kerrick. Miles pulled in at the gas station. His heart was still pounding but he'd gotten his breathing under control. Leaving the keys in, he exited the car. Kate quietly followed.

She knew the drill by now, so she went directly for the pump and started filling up the car. Miles quietly opened the door to the back seat and opened the gun bag. Several mags were already loaded with bullets. He clicked the one in his gun out and re-loaded with a new. He stood up straight and looked over the roof of the car.

"Where's your gun?" He asked.

"I threw it on the ground to free up my hands. Sorry," Kate confessed. "It was empty though."

"Alright," Miles nodded and dug into the bag to find a new gun for her. He got it. He would have probably done the same himself. They had plenty of weapons in the bags. They could spare one.

"Come here," Miles called her over.

Kate rounded the car and Miles handed her the gun. She tucked it in the back of her jeans. She was still driving on adrenaline and a feeling of accomplishment - not to mention she felt like the luckiest person alive. They survived the herd. Miles did a great deal of the job, but Kate couldn't help feeling good about herself. She'd gotten herself together and fought for her life. She hadn't frozen and nearly gotten killed. She had felt panic, of course, but it hadn't stopped her from going into that herd. She'd missed with her gun, but she'd also hit her mark and shot down a creature that was about to bite Miles. Even with the horror of it all and the fact that she'd killed something, that used to be a human with loved ones, she felt good. She didn't feel weak anymore. She felt able.

Miles reached into the car and grabbed some water bottles. He handed one off to Kate. "We have to wash off the blood and check for scratches."

"Oh. Right," Kate realised there was a big chance that one of them, or both of them had been scratched. Though she didn't feel any sting or pain, she also knew that the adrenaline could potentially cover it.

They both poured the water over their arms and washed the blood off. They had to use hankerchiefs to dry their arms. Miles slowly reached out and took one of Kate's arms. He turned her towards the sunlight to get as much light as possible. He looked from her hand to her elbow and all the way up to her shoulder. He lifted her arm up to look under it and gently took her shirt down over her shoulder to look at it and to get a clear view of her neck. After clearing her right side, he moved and repeated his search on her left. Relief washed over him when he cleared her left arm and shoulder. Once again, it was only a few red pressure marks from their grabbing hands.

"Nothing," Miles said and smiled as he sighed.

Feeling her stomach unknot again, Kate repeated Miles' actions. She took his arm and looked it over. First the left, then the right. He had grabbing marks, made by the creatures hands, but his skin hadn't been broken anywhere at all. She returned his smile.

"Just a few red marks. No scratches." She stated.

"We got lucky," Miles laughed, but there was no humor in it.

They both turned and headed back to their respective sides of the car. As they drove on, Kate found some food for them and they ate in silence.

* * *

Through the whole morning and afternoon, they met no trouble on the road. They stopped for gas, more than enough times and had only taken a few bathroom breaks.

Normally, a person like Kate would have been listening to music on her iPod, or been reading a book on a long trip like this. But she couldn't get herself to relax enough to even think about digging her book out. She kept a watchful eye, every single mile they laid behind them.

When they reached evening and the sun began to set, Miles decided to keep going. He hadn't spoken to Frank since the evening in the parking lot and he was beginning to worry Frank might have left without them. He knew it was dangerous to keep going in the dark, but enough time had already been wasted. He wanted to get to L.A now. No more long breaks.

"We're gonna drive through the night," Miles said, breaking the hour long silence. They had small talked through the trip, but both had been quiet for a few hours now.

"Is that a good idea?" Kate questioned.

"No," Miles sighed. "But I want to get there before we're left behind."

"OK," Kate nodded. "Just let me know, if you want me to drive for a bit."

"I will." Miles smiled.

The darkness fell and the clock reached midnight. They had been driving since the early morning. They'd had to take some of the small dirt roads several times, because the highway had been blocked. Miles was practically sleeping with his eyes open by now. Kate had fallen asleep a few hours ago. He figured she would be awake enough to drive. When he reached over to wake her, something caught his eye.

He slowed the car down until it came to a full stop. The lights on the car shined forward. They were on it's highest setting. With his arm half way towards Kate, Miles squinted and leaned forward to see better. His eyes widened.

Another herd.

Miles quickly shook Kate's shoulder. "Wake up!" He hissed.

Kate awoke with a startle. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Miles didn't even bother to tell her to be quiet. It was too late. The herd had already seen the lights on the car and had changed direction. He pointed.

Kate looked out the front window of the car to find what Miles was pointing at. She now noticed the car had stopped. She looked closely for a few seconds and then she spotted them. A herd, just up the highway. Her heart jumped in her chest. If she wasn't so shocked and frightened, she would have laughed. She should have known there was no way they would make it through the night without trouble. These things were most active at night and during early morning. She stared at the herd.

"Shit," She managed to whisper. "What do we do? Do we turn around?"

"We can't," Miles said. "We don't have enough gas. We need to get to the rest stop, 8 miles up the road."

"Dammit," Kate whispered. "What do we do then?"

Miles looked ahead. The herd was coming closer while he sat there, having no idea what to do. They'd seen the lights and they were coming for the car, so they couldn't duck down and wait, like in the parking lot. If they turned around to take another road, they would run out of gas and be stuck. They only had a few hours left until they were at Long Beach Marina. Miles sighed.

They were gonna have to drive through.

"We're gonna drive through."

"What!?" Kate shrieked.

"You try to shoot them down," Miles said as he reached behind the seat for the gun bag. He fished out several full magazines and placed them in her lap. "Through the window," He pointed.

"You've got to be kidding?" Kate gasped.

"Sorry. I'm not." Miles sighed. "I drive, you shoot."

"But I can't shoot for shit!" Kate yelled, her arms flailing infront of her while she spoke.

Miles stared at her. There wasn't time for this. "Just do your best." He touched her shoulder to show her support.

Miles sat back in the drivers seat. The herd was only roughly 25 meters away now. Beside him, Kate rolled down her window. He pressed down the on the gas. The car moved forward. This time he started slow, giving Kate a chance to hit her target. He increased speed once she started firing.

Kate leaned out the window of the car. Taking aim best she could, she started firing at the creatures. But it was too hard. She had trouble hitting her target when it was standing still, so this was impossible for her. The herd was massive. Using the first 12 shots, she only managed to take down one and hit another in the shoulder. She pulled a new magazine from her back pocket. Firing again she missed with all 12 shots.

"I'm not hitting anything!" She yelled to Miles.

"Shit!" Miles slammed his hands on the wheel. The car steered slightly to the left. They had to switch places. He reached over and pulled on one of the hems in her jeans. "Sit back down!" He yelled. The herd and the shots were making so much noise, he couldn't hear himself think. The engine on the car sounded strained.

Kate sat back down in her seat and looked at him. "We have to switch places," Miles quickly said.

Kate nodded so fast her head couldn't keep up. She slammed the gun down on the dashboard of the car. Miles quickly flipped the back of the seat down. He slid back as far as he could, without taking his foot off the gas. Kate crawled over from her seat and ungracefully manuvered herself to the drivers seat, briefly sitting in Miles' lap. She grabbed the wheel and Miles let go. Then he slid back and removed his foot completely from the gas. Kate instantly placed her foot there and kept the pedal down.

Miles quickly crawled to the passengers seat and grabbed his gun from the waistband of his pants. He leaned out the window and took aim. Using all 12 shots in the matter of seconds, he only missed twice. Kate kept the car steady enough for him to focus. He changed magazines and took aim again. Creatures flew by the car and Miles almost bumped into them.

"Go faster!" He yelled and seconds later he felt the car speed up to twice what it was going before.

The car drove into the creatures, sending them both over and under the car. Kate almost hit her head against the roof as the car tumbled over the creatures. Miles desperately tried to shoot them down to create space for them to get through.

A creature flew over the hood of the car and landed on the roof. Miles looked up. He dodged the creatures hands by a mere inch. "Kate, turn the car!" Miles yelled as he fought to push the creatures hands away from his face. "Turn it to the side! Hard!"

Inside the car, Kate heard Miles' message. She yanked the steering wheel to the left and hit the brakes making the car turn violently. The tires squeaked and drug black marks across the road. Then the car came to a complete stop.

The creature flew off the roof and rolled across the road beside the car. Kate stepped down on the gas and turned the car back on the right path. She pressed the car as fast as it would go. Shooting them down wasn't helping any. She plowed the car through the herd, watching them splatter over the car and their rotten body parts flying left and right. She could barely see through the window and flipped on the wiperblades. She hoped the the herd was coming to an end soon.

Her palms were sweaty and her heart pounded so hard, she thought it might break through her chest. She was running all on adrenaline right now. She'd never been this scared in her life, but she still drove the car through the herd without as much as a whimper or a scream. Her face was hard as stone. She knew that once this was over and the adrenaline left her, she'd crumble into a weeping ball. In the last few days, she'd done things she never thought she would. Things that went beyond her years on the run. But a few days wasn't enough to make her tough.

Miles still hung out the side window. He'd given up trying to take aim, when he felt the car go as fast as it possibly could. He figured out what Kate's plan was fairly quickly. He just hoped they wouldn't get stuck in a pile of blood, guts and body parts, because of it. The creatures splattered on to the car and he saw the body parts fly everywhere. He kept an eye out for the end of the herd. It was pitch black and he couldn't see a thing.

After what felt like hours, they reached the end of the herd. The creatures thinned out and the road became clear once again. Miles leaned back inside the car and sat down. His body shook with adrenaline. He'd forgotten to even be scared. He took deep breaths to calm himself down, as the view of creatures changed back into nature. The car sped down the highway with just over 100 mph.

Kate's body was tense as she focused on keeping the car on the road. When she realised it was over and saw that the highway was clear once again, she slowled the car down to a more sensible speed. Her breathing had become strained and hard exhales escaped through her nose. Her knuckles were white from holding the steering wheel so tight. She drew in deep breaths through her nose, afraid that if she opened her mouth, her weeping breakdown would come sooner than expected.

Miles sat quietly beside Kate, observing her stiff posture and how white her knuckles were. Her breathing was hard. His own heart had calmed down a few beats and instead of being high on adrenaline, like most people would be for a long time after such a situation, it had left his body in seconds and he now noticed how exhausted he really was.

They drove in silence for the next 8 miles. Miles watched how Kate's hard mask slowly began to fade and how her body started slumping down from it's tense position. He noticed how she began to shake and her eyes started to shine with tears, she clearly held back. The adrenaline was leaving her body slowly and he knew that the shock was gonna come next.

"The rest stop is right up here," Miles said and pointed ahead. Kate turned the car towards the way he pointed.

Shortly after, the car was parked next to a gas pump. They sat in the car, not saying a word. Miles was beginning to fear that the loss of Jaime had made him completely emotionless. While he felt adrenaline, he'd started to lack fear. He threw open his door and left the car. Kate did the same a few seconds later. He walked around the car and grabbed the gas pump. Shoving it in the car, he supported his elbow on the car and let his head rest on his hand. He closed his eyes for a moment.

Kate stood with her back against the car, shaking all over her body. She was cold and tired. The adrenaline had worn off and her expected weeping was pushing it's way out. Her upper body started jerking in sobs as she let out the tears she'd been holding back. She buried her head in her hands and allowed herself to cry loudly.

Miles opened his eyes when he heard the loud sobs coming from Kate. Removing the pump from the car, he walked the few steps towards her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and ran them up and down her upper arms for comfort.

She removed her hands from her face, but kept her head down. Miles' hands on her shoulders felt comforting and she automatically reached out and put her arms around his waist. She buried her head in his shoulder and kept sobbing. Her tears made a big wet spot on his t-shirt.

Miles put his arms around Kate's shoulders and held her head with his left hand. He knew she wasn't very tough and the things she'd been through in the last few days had been hard for her. He hugged her tightly. He rested his cheek on her head while Kate continued to sob into his shoulder.

"It's OK. It's all over now." He whispered. "In a few hours, we'll be on a boat."

* * *

Even though Miles had promised Kate that they would be on a boat in a few hours, he decided they should stay at the rest stop for a few hours and get a bit of rest. Kate made no protest. Her crying had stopped after a good 15 minutes, during which Miles patiently held her and comforted her with assuring words, that everything would be just fine. Now they laid quietly in each their front seat, with the back flipped all the way down.

"That was some good driving you did back there," Miles said.

"Thanks," Kate whispered.

"Where did you learn?"

Kate felt a jab in her stomach when she heard the question. Truth or lie? She could say she had experience in racing? Former cop? Interested in cars for years? No. She firmly decided. She'd promised herself no lies.

"I was a fugitive for 3 years. Still am, I guess." She started out. She turned to her side to see Miles' face. It was neutral. "I escaped a few cops in my days. Stole a couple of cars."

Miles almost couldn't mask his surprise when Kate told him she had been a fugitive. He was impressed by her honesty and decided he wasn't going to judge her. He was curious though. What had made this young woman run from cops for 3 years?

"What did you do?" He asked curiously.

Kate smiled at him. "I did a lot of things." She whispered

"Alright," Miles accepted the answer and more than understood the feeling of not wanting to talk about certain things.

"Where did you learn to shoot?" Kate suddenly asked.

"I used to be a cop," Miles admitted. "Worked as a detective for a few years as well."

"On murder cases and such?" Kate curiously asked.

"Yeah. Solved a few in my best days," Miles laughed.

Kate laughed hysterically. It had just hit her. "I just told a cop, I'm a fugitive."

Miles chuckeled lightly. "Don't worry about it. I don't think the rules appy anymore."

"I guess not," she whispered. She calmed down from her hysteria. "Thanks for taking me with you. And for saving my life… several times." She turned her head and smiled.

"Don't mention it," Miles smiled back. "And I'm sorry that I left you behind."

"It's OK. You came back." Kate pointed out.

They both turned quiet. Miles closed his eyes once again. His exhaustion won over his will to get to L.A before sunrise. A few hours rest wouldn't do much harm. Miles briefly opened his eyes and easily set his digital watch to beep in a few hours. He's wake up and start driving, letting Kate sleep until they got there. Beside him, Kate had closed her eyes and was breathing calmly. Miles turned around onto his back and closed his eyes again. It felt like his whole body ached for a weeks sleep, as he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

Kate laid awake for a little while, thinking about Miles' reaction to her confession. It had been calm and neutral. She'd seen him try to mask surprise, but she never saw or heard judgement. His curiousity she understood. It wasn't every day that someone confessed being a fugitive. She ran for 3 years before meeting Kevin, then she settled down under a fake name for another 4. Technically she was still on the run. Only now it wasn't from the cops. It was from flesh eating creatures that were once human. She wondered if she would ever stop being on the run.

* * *

Miles' watch beeped in his ear, when it reached 5AM. He stopped it, with his eyes still closed. He took a minute to wake up before he finally opened his eyes and sat up. The sun was already starting to rise. He quietly flipped the back up his seat up and started the car.

Miles pulled away from the gas station and headed back towards the highway. Once back on the right road, Miles sped up the car. He grabbed the old bottle of water from the holder and drank the last of it. His stomach growled, but they would be in L.A in less than 3 hours – unless they ran into more trouble. He could eat once they were on the boat and heading out to sea.

The thought of being safely away from the mainland soothed Miles. Not having to look out for yourself all the time and running from zombies would give him time and peace to actually deal with his loss. He'd pushed it away since the moment he'd left Manhattan and he wanted to find out if he actually had become completely emotionless towards some things, or if it was just the stress of the whole trip that made him focus more survival. Hopefully it was the latter. Even though Miles didn't want to feel lost and broken and feel the loss of his wife, he wanted to anyway. He wanted to feel it and move past it, and know that he was still capable of emotions.

Travelling with Kate had been fairly easy. She couldn't shoot very well, but she could drive a car and she seemed so easy to talk to. But still, Miles was beginning to feel a need to see a familiar face. See a person who knew him and someone who would understand certain things he thought and felt.

Surviving together for these days, had of course created a bond between him and Kate and on some level they were already close to each other. Miles was sure, that if they stuck together, they would become good friends and supporters for each other. But Miles still needed to see Frank. And soon. So he pushed the car a little faster.

Two and a half hours into the last stretch of their trip, Kate woke up on the seat beside Miles. For a moment she was confused to see that they were moving. She sat up and looked at the time and saw it was almost 8AM. She looked out the window but couldn't see where they were. She cleared her throat roughly and drank some water from her old bottle, that was at least a day old by now. She craved juice or soda and a bag of candy seemed like heaven, but she was too tired to dig through any of the bags.

"Where are we?" She yawned.

"We're there," Miles grinned. Then he pointed ahead. "The marina is just down this road. 5 more minutes, maybe."

"Oh," Kate laughed. "I slept the whole way."

"It's OK," Miles smiled assuringly.

"No problems on the way at all?"

"Nope," Miles shook his head and drove around a car, that had been left in the middle of the road.

Secretly, Miles had a growing knot in his stomach. He was beginning to fear that Frank had already left without them. If he had, Miles was planning on trying to reach him on the walkie, or another boats radio. He knew it would most likely be pointless, but that was his plan A. Plan B was to find and try to sail a boat himself. He had no sailing experience at all, but how hard could it be? Hard. He was just trying to fool himself into thinking he could do it. A sudden thought hit him.

"Do you have any sailing experience?" He asked Kate, who looked momentarely confused.

"Yes. Why?"

"In case we've been left behind." Miles explained.

"Oh," Kate nooded. "I know how to sail a boat. Don't worry about it."

Then she sent him one of those assuring smiles, that Miles himself had sent her time and time again, through the whole trip.

A few minutes later, Miles turned the car into the Marina area. The sight surprised him. The place was usually filled with boats. So many, that they had to turn people away half the time, because they had no space. Now all the slips were empty. Very few boats laid abandoned at their dock. Some were old and had been left there for years, others looked newer and had been left by their owners. Miles counted not even 10 boats left.

Frank had told Miles where to find him, way back when Jaime was still alive. Miles remembered Frank saying he was all the way at the end of the marina, at the very last slip, keeping well away. He steered the car towards the end. He parked the car as close as he possibly could and looked past Kate, towards the dock. Two boats laid at the boardwalk dock.

"Is he still here?" Kate asked nervously.

"I don't know," Miles confessed. "He said he would be at the end of this one."

"Must be that boat out there then." Kate pondered and exited the car.

Miles followed quickly. Kate was about the open the side door to grab some of the bags, when Miles stopped her. "Let's go see if he's here first."

"Right," Kate shook her head. "Of course," She lightly slapped her own forehead. Miles chuckled beside her.

They walked towards the docks, keeping an eye out. As they reached the boat at the end, Miles began to feel nauseous. He was worried Frank wasn't here. That the boat was empty or worse. Something had happened to him.

They stood on the dock, infront of the boat. "Frank!" Miles yelled loudly. They waited for a moment. No answer came. "Frank! It's Miles!" He yelled again, twice as loud. His heart skipped a beat. A minutes time later, they heard movement on the boat.

Frank emerged from below deck and looked around. When he spotted Miles, he smiled widely.

"Miles! You made it!" He yelled and made his way across the deck. He stepped off the boat. "I thought you were calling me on the walkie." Frank laughed loudly.

Miles and Frank gave each other a hug and Miles felt his fear of being left behind, or something happening to Frank disappear completely. He felt the relief flood over him. He smiled back at Frank.

"Yeah. Not without a bit of trouble though."

Frank nodded in understanding.

Then Frank looked to the side and saw Kate. Confused, he looked back to Miles. Miles knew the questions that were gonna come now.

"Where's Jaime?" Frank asked, still confused.

Miles looked down and shook his head, while he bit his lip. It was answer enough for Frank, who put a hand on Miles' shoulder. "I'm sorry. I really hoped she would make it," Frank condoled.

"Yeah," Miles whispered and took a deep breath. Then he turned to Kate, who'd been standing quietly beside them, not wanting to interupt their reuniuon. "This is Kate," He cleared his throat and held his hand out.

"Hi, Kate." Frank smiled and reached out to shake her hand. "I'm Frank," He introduced.

"Hi, Frank." Kate smiled back and shook his hand.

"I found her back in South Carolina, a couple of days ago." Miles explained. "She's got sailing experience," He noted and smiled.

"Really? That's great." Frank smiled widely. Kate nooded shyly.

Frank clapped his hands togther and looked at Miles. "You got bags in the car?"

"Yeah," Miles laughed. "Just a few."

They all walked back towards the car parked at the start of the dock. Frank instantly noticed the car wasn't Miles'. He didn't comment on it. He figured something had happened to it.

Miles and Frank grabbed the back packs from the back seat, while Kate went to the trunk and pulled out her suit case and Miles' sportsbag. She swung the hem over her shoulder. She felt a poke in her side through the bag. When she moved her hand to push it away, she instantly knew what had poked her. The edge of a photo album. A sadness for Miles hit her. Just like herself, he'd prioritised photo albums over everything else. A curiosity also appeared. She wondered what Jaime had looked like and what kind of person she had been. Maybe one day, when they had both dealt with their losses, she would ask Miles these questions. Kate pulled the handle up on her suitcase and walked around the car to meet Miles and Frank. They stood at the hood of the car and waited for her.

"I'm really relieved you made it," Frank repeated himself. "I was gonna leave in two days, unless I heard from you." He turned his head to look at Miles.

Not having seen Kate come up behind them, Miles spoke the truth to his friend. "I considered not making the trip." Miles confessed. Frank knew Miles very well and knew what he meant with his words.

"I understand." Frank said and put a hand on Miles' shoulder.

Kate cleared her throat behind them. They both turned. "Is that everything?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, that's everything," Kate smiled.

They walked back towards the boat. Miles could feel the freedom from the survival fight fill him, with each step he took.

Kate walked behind Miles. She almost wanted to turn and look back. It felt strange to be leaving the country she knew as home. She would most likely never return to this place. The future scared her. She had no idea where this boat was gonna take her, or where she'd end up. With them? Alone? At the bottom of the ocean? On a deserted island, starving to death? All these strange thoughts came to her mind now that she pulled the hem of Miles' bag off her shoulder and passed it on to Miles, who was already on the boat. Then she handed him her suitcase. Miles passed it back to Frank and reached out to help Kate step onto the boat.

Frank had already begun carrying the bags below deck. He called up to them. "Just bring your bags down."

Miles grabbed his own bag and two of the back packs and walked towards the little ladder-like stairs, that lead below deck. Kate followed with the last back pack and her suitcase. She almost tripped down the stairs, but managed to steady herself before hitting the floor. Frank met her at the bottom and took her suitcase with a smile.

"There's a room off here to the left, with two sleeping spaces." He pointed to the left. "There's room enough for both of you."

Miles stood off to the side and merely nodded. He was tired and he wanted to sleep, just as much as he wanted to catch up with Frank.

"Thanks," Kate smiled, when Frank walked towards the room with her suitcase. She looked over at Miles. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest and looked down at the floor. "Are you alright?" She asked and walked over to him.

Miles looked up at Kate and saw her concerned eyes resting on his face. "Yeah." He exhaled. "It just feels strange."

"I know." She agreed.

Frank returned from the cabin to the left. "We should get going. Gotta use all that lovely sunlight." He smiled and walked towards the stairs.

Miles and Kate followed behind him. Frank was untying the rope that kept the boat in place at the dock. He pulled it up on deck and folded it nicely, so it took up less space. He looked over at Kate. "Hey, can you pull up that sail?" He asked and pointed to the big sail.

"Sure," Kate answered and walked towards it.

While Kate worked on getting the sail up, Miles briefly took a moment to sit down. By the rudder there was seating space on both sides and a table top in the middle. He looked up and saw that a cover could be pulled over and protect from rain. Or sunlight for that matter. He couldn't help feeling a little bit lost. For over a week, it had been survival, shooting those things and barely any sleep. Looking out for danger all the time, stressful situations and lots of adrenaline. Once again, Miles noted how his body ached because of bad sleeping positions and tense muscles all the time. He looked down on himself and took in how he looked. His arm was covered in dried blood, his t-shirt had gained some holes and his pants were dirty and worn. He hadn't changed his clothes since the day before he left the grocery store. Suddenly he felt a little disgusted. Even his wedding ring was covered in blood. He licked his thump and rubbed it over the gold, removing the dried blood.

* * *

Half an hour after they'd stepped onto the boat, they were ready to leave. Kate had gotten the sail up and Frank started the boat. He navigated it away from the dock and out of the marina. Kate seemed to have gotten comfortable on the boat already and sat infront of the rudder with a map, talking to Frank about where they were headed. Frank explained to her, that there were plenty of islands with little, to no population at all.

Miles sat on the little step at the back of the boat, looking at the marina. He'd sat back here to get a few minutes to himself. It didn't work, since both Kate and Frank were only a couple of feet behind him. He sat with his arms crossed over his chest. The feelings he feared he'd lost, were still there. He felt them now as the boat sailed away from the coast of California. His survival mode turned off. He was relieved and genueinly surprised that he actually managed to make it this far. Without Jaime. Jaime. Miles' mind brought up the subject he feared. It brought up the feelings he was afraid to go through. The way he'd felt back at the house was enough. He didn't want to feel that pain again. His eyes burned. It felt even worse because he was so tired.

Miles almost jumped in surprise when Kate sat down beside him. Her thigh brushed against his, as she sat down close to him. "I know how you feel," She said knowingly. Sympathetic.

"Yeah," Miles breathed. The boat rocked lightly from side to side.

"What was she like?" Kate asked. "Jaime." She clarified a few seconds later.

Miles took a sharp breath. A tear escaped the corner of his left eye. "She was great," He sniffled. "Kind. Gentle. Loving. Intelligent… Stubborn."

Kate smiled, but it wasn't a joyful one. "She sounds wonderful."

"She was," Miles exhaled slowly and started fidgeting with his hands.

"Kevin was a good man," Kate began bluntly. "He was a good man and I lied to him. For 4 years. I was gonna tell him when we got to Canada. What I did and who I was. Then he died and I never got to tell him the truth." She took a deep breath. "I don't know, maybe it's for the best."

"Maybe," Miles whispered.

They sat together quietly as the minutes passed and the coast became smaller and smaller. Miles' eyes still burned. The memory of Jaime wouldn't go away. The grief started filling every bit of his body. His heart ached in his chest. It ached for her smile. Her laugh. The touch of her hand against his cheek. The way she said 'I love you' to him. He gave up and let the tears flow from his eyes. Embarrassed to show his emotions, he stopped his sobs before they escaped his mouth.

His tears didn't pass by Kate. She reached out a hand and put it on top of his own. She gave it a squeeze. Then she merely just held it. She let her head fall onto his shoulder and let her own tears flow freely. She cried for Kevin. For their lost love and the lies she had to live with having told him. She cried for how he'd had to leave this earth and that she would never get him back. She would never talk to him again. Or kiss him goodbye. They would never laugh together again. He existed now, only as memories of a time in her life, she considered to be the best she ever had.

Holding Miles' hand was just as much a comfort to herself as she meant it to be for him. He had turned his hand in her's and was holding her hand as well. The sun warmed their backs as they sat together on the back of the boat, letting their tears fall, finding comfort in each other, while dealing with the losses of their loved one.

The coast of California disappeared from their vision and they both closed their eyes.

It was over.

* * *

 _ **4 Days Later**_

The first three days on the boat passed quietly. Miles and Frank caught up and to Miles' relief, Kate and Frank got along very well.

Miles and Kate had both spent the better part of the first day and a half mourning their losses. Miles had woken up the first night, to the sound of sobbing from Kate's side of their shared room. Without thinking any further of it, he'd rised from his bed and walked to her's. He'd laid next to her and held her until the early morning hours when Frank quietly had knocked on the door, asking for Miles' help above deck.

Frank hadn't commented on what he saw. He knew they were comforting each other.

Kate had almost jumped with joy, when Frank had served her a hot meal on their second day on the boat. It was canned food, but the mere feeling of warm food, sent a shiver through her. Their electricity had gone out two weeks before they left Florida.

The boat also had a small shower installed. The salt water was sucked up through a machine and cleaned before it came out of the shower head. The water wasn't clean enough to be able to drink, but you could definitely shower in it. Both Kate and Miles had taken a liking to it.

* * *

On the morning of their fourth day on the boat, Miles and Kate sat on the front deck of the boat. It had become their prefered place to sit. The day before, they had sat there for hours looking through their photo albums, sharing stories with each other.

The sun shined brightly that morning. Kate was convinced she'd get a sunburn. Miles didn't seem too concerned about it.

They sat on the deck tying sailing knots, when Frank suddenly called out to them.

"No, first this way, then through the hole – " Kate was explaining, guiding Miles' hands, when Frank interupted.

"Miles! Kate!" He called from the rudder. Miles looked up from his knot. "Come here, both of you."

They both got up, abandoning their ropes.

"What is it?" Miles asked, instantly concerned that something was wrong with the boat. He stepped down next to Frank. Kate stood up on the deck a couple of meters away.

"Look there," Frank pointed ahead.

Both Miles and Kate turned around to look ahead. They covered their eyes from the sun. Miles' eyes went wide when he saw what Frank was pointing at. It was land. It looked like a volcano. It was far away but when he looked close enough, he could see that it definitely was a volcano.

Kate briefly gasped. "Is that a volcano?"

"No," Frank answered. "It's an island."

"What?" Miles looked back at Frank.

"Is that the one we're headed for? I thought you said it would take over a week." Kate asked, clearly confused.

"This island isn't on the map." Frank said.

"What!?" Kate and Miles both blurted out.

"I'm telling you guys. This island is not on the map." Frank stated firmly.

"Are you sure?" Miles asked as he walked to the table and looked at the map.

"I'm a 100% sure." Frank stated.

Miles studied the map closely. Frank was right. This island wasn't on the map. The closest islands were days away from their current location. This island was only a few hours ahead of them. How could an island that big, not be on a map? There was no way it could be undiscovered. But if it was indeed undiscovered, wouldn't that mean it would be safe? No people, no infection.

"Do you think it's safe?" Kate asked. She'd turned back around and stood with binoculars covering her eyes.

"Don't know." Frank answered.

Miles looked up from the map. "We should check it out." Then he stepped up on the deck and Kate passed him the binoculars.

"Alright," Frank said and nodded. Then he steered the boat slightly to the right. "Let's take a look then."


	7. Welcome to the Island

**Chapter Six – Welcome to the Island**

Miles, Kate and Frank crawled up onto the beach completely exhausted. The current had been stronger than they thought and for many minutes, they had fought to get forward.

It had taken them three hours to get to the island. After setting anchor, they had loaded up their guns and jumped in the water.

Miles colapsed on his stomach in the sand and struggled to breathe for several minutes.

Kate gasped for air on all fours. She'd swallowed more than a few mouthfulls of salt water when the current started pulling at her.

Frank managed to sit up straight while he took in large deep breaths. He almost laughed at himself. He'd been flying those airplanes for too long.

Miles laid still in the sand, inhaling loudly. His whole body felt like it was cramping. Even the tip of his fingers and his toes. He wanted to lay still for the rest of his life. Instead he put his hands in the sand and pushed himself up. First he struggled to get up on all fours, then he stood all the way up on shaking legs, that threatened to collapse underneath him. He found his balance in the sand.

He looked around. Jungle was all he could see besides the beach that ran infront of it. In some places the beach and jungle curved in. To his right he could see a point and then nothing more. If you sailed around it, there would be more island. The sand was untouched. There were no footprints from animals or humans. The beach was wide. 25 meters, maybe. The tide would most like not reach the trees. Miles looked down and saw a line in the sand, where the waves and the tide had reached it's highest point. They could set up a camp, up near the trees in the shade. They could build shelter from things on the boat. They could watch the boat and keep an eye out for other survivors from the beach as well. The boats purifier would help get them clean drinking water, if they couldn't find a stream. If any dangerous animals were to show up, they had weapons to protect themselves. This could become a good set-up, Miles thought to himself.

Miles turned back around and looked towards the water. They could build a small raft, to use to transport their bags and useful things from the boat. Maybe Frank knew something about currents and tide. Maybe he knew something about when it was safest to enter the water. He walked towards where Frank sat in the sand.

Kate finally found her lungs again. She coughed up some of the water, she had inhaled and swallowed along the way. She slowly stood up and found her balance. She took in her surroundings. She took in the jungle and the beach. She turned around and looked towards the boat. Hopefully they would be able to build a small raft to use, instead of fighting the current. She turned back towards the jungle. Up ahead, a few meters away from the treeline, in the shade, she thought would make a good place for a fire. She started walking towards it, but stopped. She sighed. No matches. They were back on the boat. She turned towards Miles and Frank. They stood in the sand, down by the waves. The water almost touched their feet.

"We should build a small raft to transport stuff from the boat," Miles said to Frank as Kate joined them.

She interupted them rudely. "Are we safe here?"

Miles didn't get a chance to answer before something caught his eye. He looked twice. Then a third time. He was the only one facing the jungle. He let his hands drop to his sides and took a step in between Kate and Frank. They looked at him confused.

"I'm not sure," Miles whispered as he kept staring into the jungle.

Frank and Kate turned to see what Miles was staring at so intensely. Kate gasped loudly. Frank uttered in surprise, "What the hell?"

Walking out between the trees, was a small group of people. Miles quickly counted seven. They walked slowly, as if they were in no hurry. Their arms hung down by their sides. Miles saw no weapons, but that didn't mean they didn't carry any. They were all dressed in clean clothes. Miles found that odd. Why were these people so clean? Further more, who were they?

A man walked well infront of the others. He was probably their leader. The rest of the group stopped just past the tree line. The leader kept walking towards them. He was a man in his mid forties. His hair was dark and he wore light brown dress pants, together with a clean striped shirt. His shoes showed that he usually didn't hike around the jungle and his normal, to slight overweight, showed that he wasn't starving. Miles could tell none of these people were. All of their bodies were well kept and healthy.

The man stopped a few feet away from Miles. Kate and Frank stood behind him. The man held his hand out for a handshake. "I take it, you're survivours from the mainland?" He spoke with a smile.

No one moved to shake the man's hand. They all stood still, completely dumbfounded. The man shifted his weight from one foot, to the other and drew his hand back with an understanding smile.

"My name is Benjamin Linus," He introduced himself. "I would like to welcome you to the island."

No one said anything. Kate stood behind Miles with a pounding heart. She didn't know why she feared these people. She had no reason to. Frank remained quiet. He didn't fear these people until he had a reason to. But he didn't trust them either.

Miles stood still, having absolutely no clue what to do. Did these people present a threat? Were they dangerous or was this man – Ben – genuine? Miles briefly debated himself if they should swim back to the boat and sail towards another island. Ben interupted his thoughts.

"Why don't you come with us and I'll explain why you're here."

Miles felt Kate take his hand. He briefly looked back at Frank, then Kate. They looked just as confused as himself. Kate was scared, he would see that in her eyes. He gently squeezed her hand to show her some comfort. Then he turned back towards Ben. He was just about to say something, when Ben spoke again.

"You're quite safe here," He promised. Then he waved two of his people down towards them. Miles took a step backwards. Ben didn't seem to notice. "Keith and Clara will sail your boat to our dock, up around that point there," Ben pointed to his left. "Your items will be safe with them."

The two people, Keith and Clara walked quietly past them. They smiled and nodded their hello's as they passed. Then they went into the water and swam towards the boat. If these people were liars and dangerous, they would be screwed now. Miles mentally kicked himself for not speaking up. Why hadn't he said a word yet? He couldn't even answer that himself.

Ben took their silence as shock and confusion and when they didn't speak up about their boat, he figured they weren't about to run back to the water. Ben also knew that pushing it often helped people make the decision he wanted them to make. He brought his hands together and they made a small clapping sound.

"That's settled then," He smiled widely. "We have people making a house ready for you, as we speak. Transportation is waiting right up here. It's only an hours drive." Ben pointed towards the trees and turned to walk away.

"What?" Kate whispered quietly, when Miles turned to look at her and Frank.

"I say we give them a chance to show who they are," Frank said. "If they can't be trusted, we leave."

"Yeah." Miles agreed with Frank. "If anyone has a different opinion, speak now." He looked at Kate. She nodded. Miles turned around and saw Ben waiting at the tree line with his people.

"Come on now," Ben called.

Frank started walking forward, Miles followed. His arm was pulled back behind him. He stopped and turned to see Kate standing still in the sand, her arm stretched out infront of her. Miles walked back to her. He reached up with his free hand and touched her cheek. Then he turned and started walking towards the tree line. Kate followed him this time, holding on to his hand tightly.

"It'll be alright," He said, his voice had a hint of uncertainty in it. Miles heart picked up it's pace as they walked towards an unsure future.

"I think," He whispered.


	8. Epilouge - Newcomers

**Epilouge – Newcomers**

 _ **1 year later**_

Miles woke up and rubbed his eyes. He opened them slowly and was blinded by a beam of sunlight right in his face. He turned his head. The curtains were open. He looked at the clock radio on the night stand. It was almost 8AM. He looked up at the white painted ceeling above him.

It had been a little over a year since they had walked off the beach with Ben and his people. They were taken to a place called the barracks. It was a community that the people on the island lived in. They had been told the story of the Dharma Initiative, what had been doing on the island and what happened to them. Ben had explained how the island was special. Him and his people had proved to be genuine. They were kind and good people, living their lives quietly on this island. Everyone had a job to do, to keep the place running and safe. After a few weeks of adjusting, Miles, Kate and Frank had been assigned jobs as well.

Frank had gotten a job as a mechanic. His knowledge in sailing and piloting was appreciated and he worked along side a few younger men, to help keep the community's vans and other things mechanical all over the island running.

Kate had been assigned to work with one of their doctors, Juliet Burke. She was a fertility doctor, who had been working for years on solving the issues with the pregnant women on the island. Together with Kate, she had come close to a solution. Kate had also been trained in general nursing care. She could now take care of larger wounds, give needed shots, take blood and had assisted the other doctor, Ethan Rom, on a few minor operations.

Miles himself had been given a job in security. He worked along side Ben to protect the island and the people on it. Every day he learned more about the island and he'd come to like working with something similar to what he did back in the real world. He'd become content in his new life.

* * *

Miles rised up into sitting position in the bed and noticed the other side of the bed was empty. He ran a hand through his messy hair and got out of bed. Lured by the smell of fresh coffee, Miles walked out into the hallway and headed towards the kitchen.

Miles entered the living room quietly. It was an open space with 70's furniture. Two chairs, a couch, a coffee table and an old box TV took up most of the space. A bookshelf stood next to the couch. All their photo albums stood side by side on it. On the same wall there was a dresser. Atop of that stood several framed pictures. Two of them stood off to the side from the others. Miles and Kate's respective wedding photo's stood side by side. In a tiny blue glass bowl, laid four wedding bands. Kate and Miles had created the space together, wanting to remember their lost loves, while continuing their life together.

The kitchen was 70's style like the rest of the house, but very well kept. A few appliances had been changed over the years, but the cubboards and table tops were the same as they'd always been. Miles walked into the kitchen and found Kate standing by the stove, making scrambled eggs. He walked to stand beside her.

"Good morning," He said and put his arm around her waist.

"Good morning," Kate turned her head and smiled.

Miles leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Then he went to find some plates and utensils. He could have gussed long ago, that him and Kate most likely would end up being more than friends. It hadn't been long since they had made it official that they were a couple. Only about 7 months. They had both needed time to grieve after they found safety on the island. They both knew they were close already, but neither of them were ready to head into another relationship. When the time had been right, they had shared their first kiss. They lived together quietly and comfortably – along with Frank in the spare room. None of them felt like being apart. They had survived so much together.

Miles set the table, while Kate put eggs and bacon on a third plate. She sat down, while Miles got the coffee.

"So…" Miles started. "It's saturday today. Beach?" He asked. Then he sat down and joined Kate at the table.

Kate sighed. "I would love to, but Lynn might go into labor today. I have to be there. It'll be the first baby in 4 years." She smiled widely.

"Oh right," Miles nodded. "Yeah, you definitely have to be there for that."

"Yeah," She mumbled excitedly with a mouthfull of eggs.

* * *

By 10AM, they were both showered and dressed for an easy saturday. They sat in each their lounge chair on the porch, drinking coffee and reading their books, when Ben suddenly walked up to them in a rush.

"Miles, I need you." Ben called, standing by the end of the steps to the porch.

Miles quickly put his book down and got up from the chair. Kate also put her book down, but remained seated. "What is it?" Miles asked.

"I've just been told there's a boat approaching the island out by one of the east beaches." Ben spoke hastly.

"What?" Kate exclaimed in the background.

"I need you to go there and greet them. Bring them back here." Ben instructed.

"Alone?" Miles expressed.

Ben looked in Kate's direction and waved her over. "Take Kate with you."

Then Ben turned to walk towards the vans. Miles decended the steps and followed. "Shouldn't I take a team? These new people could be dangerous." Miles argued.

"I'm sorry, Miles," Ben apoligised. "Everyone is busy. We have a problem at Hydra Island. You two will have to do this."

Ben pulled down a set of keys from the board and handed them to Miles. "Bring one gun each. We don't want them to think we're dangerous. I have Clara getting houses ready as we speak. You know the drill, Miles." Ben looked at Miles assuringly.

Miles nodded along to all of Ben's instructions. When Ben was done, Miles spoke. "What beach?"

"The same as yours, but a mile longer down. You have to go now, before they come ashore and start wandering around." Ben rushed.

Miles ran to gun's and grabbed two of them, then he quickly swung the van out of it's spot. Stopping infront of their house, Miles rushed Kate to get inside. With no real roads, he would have to be careful where he drove and time was already running out. If the people on the boat started wandring the jungle, they could get lost or killed. If one of them was infected with whatever was on the mainland, it could affect the whole community. It could wipe them all out.

"I can't believe Ben didn't give us a team." Kate uttered.

"It'll be alright," Miles assured.

* * *

An hour later, the van was parked and Miles and Kate stood by the tree line waiting. The boat had thrown it's anchor and they watched as the people from it swan to shore. Miles counted six people. Kate stood quietly beside him, tapping her thigh with the barrel of her gun.

They watched as the six people crawled up on shore. There were two tall, normal built men in their late 30's, a big guy with long curly hair, a woman who looked lean and tough, with dark hair and two korean's, that looked like a married couple. They all looked to be somewhere in their early, to late 20's.

"We'll just give them a few minutes to collect themselves." Miles said. Kate nodded by his side.

They waited, while the people on the beach collected themselves and caught their breath. Miles observed. He saw two guns. One on each of the tall men. The korean couple stood a bit behind the others. They could most likely not speak much english. One of the tall men where talking to the big guy and the woman. The other one walked around on the beach observing. Miles briefly remembered when that had been him. He remembered how Ben emerged from the trees, calmly and friendly.

"Put the gun away and wait 10 seconds, then follow me." Miles instructed.

Then he raised his hands up and walked out between the trees. The people noticed him a few seconds later. The tall, slightly long haired man instantly pulled his gun. "Stop right there." The man warned with a thick southern accent.

Miles did as he was told, to avoid getting shot. He smiled at the people, who were staring at him. They were frightened and insecure about who he was.

"Hello." Miles started calmly. "I take it you're suvivors from the mainland?"

"Who the hell are you!?" The southern man yelled and kept his gun aimed.

"My name is Miles Straume. I would like to welcome you to the island." Miles turned his head slightly to the side. "Please," He requested. "Lower your gun."

Kate had followed Miles' instructions and had followed him 10 seconds later, with her arms raised. She stopped about 20 feet behind him. Then she slowly lowered her arms. Her heart was pounding. She didn't like the sight of a gun pointed on Miles.

Miles turned back to the rest of the group, still putting on his most friendly face. "Why don't you all come with us, and I'll explain why you're here?"

"Come with you where?" The other tall man asked. He seemed like the leader of the group.

"We have a small community about an hours drive from here," Miles patiently explained. "We have people making houses ready for you, as we speak."

"You live here? On this island?" The man asked.

"Yes." Miles responded. "You're quite safe here."

"Is the infection here?"

"No." Miles stated. "There's no infection here."

"Just who the hell are you people?" The southern man yelled once again and stepped closer. This time he lowered his gun.

Miles lowered his hands at last. "I will explain everything to you, if you come with us."

He stepped forward towards the group of people and held out his hand. Confident that he wouldn't be shot down. The taller man, the leader, stepped forward and took it. They shook hands.

"I'm Jack. Shephard." He introduced himself. Then he turned the people behind him. "This is James and Ana Lucia." He pointed to the southern man and the woman with dark hair. "Hurley, Sun and Jin." He pointed to the big guy and the korean couple.

"Nice to meet you all." Miles smiled and nodded to the people behind Jack. "We will have people sail your boat to our dock later on. Your belongings will be safe with them."

Miles turned and walked back towards Kate. "Come along now. Transportation is waiting just up here."

He stopped next to Kate and looked back at the people on the beach. They hesitated, just like they had done themselves a year ago. But then Jack started walking towards them. The others slowly followed him.

"Well done," Kate smiled and looked at Miles. She leaned in and wrapped her arm around his.

"Thanks," Miles replied and smiled as they watched the group of people approach them carefully.


End file.
